Since starting this blog a year ago, the chocolate amaretto panna cotta is my most popular post. This surprises me, especially since I didn’t post a recipe. Instead I linked to one of the only chocolate panna cotta recipes I could find at the time.

Over the past year, I’ve experimented with chocolate panna cottas, and finally settled on my own recipe. No disrespect to the fine folks at William-Sonoma, but I like my recipe more. I’m happy to share it with you!

Chocolate Amaretto Panna Cotta Recipe for 2.5 cups

  • One packet Knox gelatin
  • ½ cup whole milk (for blooming gelatin)
  • 1 ¾ cups heavy cream
  • ¼ cup sugar (or to taste)
  • ½ cup baking cocoa powder
  • ¼ cup amaretto

Sprinkle the packet of gelatin on top of ½ cup cold milk. Set aside for 5 minutes.

In a small saucepan, heat up cream and sugar (do not boil). Add cocoa a little bit at a time and stir thoroughly. Once sugar dissolves, pour over the bloomed gelatin. Stir until gelatin dissolves, and add ¼ cup of amaretto. Strain mixture to remove cocoa powder clumps – there will be clumps!  Pour into mold(s) and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Original post:

Panna cottas, like all gelatin desserts, offer a blank slate for flavor experimentations. Here I combined two of my favorite things in the world – chocolate and almonds. The chocolate creaminess and boozy almond sweetness tasted divine. This was my first attempt at a chocolate gelatin mold, and am thrilled by limitless chocolate possibilities. Oh the fun I’m going to have!

To make the chocolate amaretto panna cotta, I adapted this recipe from William-Sonoma (I substituted milk for the mascarpone and added  amaretto). While most panna cotta recipes call for straight heavy cream, I prefer substituting some of the cream with milk. I find it creates a lighter, silky texture.