Even though I am not a regular coffee drinker, I love coffee-flavored desserts. My husband Tom, on the other hand, is a full blown coffee addict. While he gets his daily fix from our Nespresso machine, he also enjoys an iced Vietnamese coffee when we go out for pho. I even bought a couple of metal drip filters so that Tom could enjoy the drink at home. Last week when I saw a recipe from Zoe Francois for "Vietnamese Ice Coffee Panna Cotta," I just couldn't resist.
While a Vietnamese iced coffee is coffee mixed with sweetened condensed milk and served over ice, this dessert is alternating layers of vanilla panna cotta and espresso panna cotta, topped with a layer of espresso gelatin. You make the vanilla panna cotta from heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, a vanilla bean, sugar, salt, and gelatin. The espresso panna cotta is simply the vanilla version with cocoa and espresso powder added.
Once you've added the gelatin to the panna cotta and chill it, it begins to thicken. You pour a layer of one flavor into a cup, freeze it for five minutes until set, add the next layer, and so on. I found that there was a small window of time when the panna cotta was thick enough that the layers would set quickly in the freezer, but before it became too thick to pour into a smooth layer. I put my panna cotta in five ounce plastic cups; each layer contained the same amount of panna cotta, but because the cups were flared and wider at the top, each layer was shorter than the one beneath it. The top layer was a espresso gelee made from mixing gelatin with brewed espresso and sugar.
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This dessert was wonderfully rich and creamy. The condensed milk flavor really comes through (especially in the vanilla layer), and the flecks of vanilla throughout are very pretty. The espresso gelatin layer was a bit bitter (well, maybe only to someone who cannot stomach black coffee), but it went well with sweet panna cotta. Overall, the panna cotta was very tasty. It was not quite as refreshing as an actual Vietnamese iced coffee; something about a very cold drink on ice is hard to beat, and the panna cotta was a bit heavy. Also, I think this might be a little better if the ratio of vanilla panna cotta to espresso panna cotta was maybe 1:2 instead of 1:1. But I would happily enjoy this cold, creamy, and beautiful treat any day!
Recipe: "Vietnamese Ice Coffee Panna Cotta," by Zoe Francois.
While a Vietnamese iced coffee is coffee mixed with sweetened condensed milk and served over ice, this dessert is alternating layers of vanilla panna cotta and espresso panna cotta, topped with a layer of espresso gelatin. You make the vanilla panna cotta from heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, a vanilla bean, sugar, salt, and gelatin. The espresso panna cotta is simply the vanilla version with cocoa and espresso powder added.
Once you've added the gelatin to the panna cotta and chill it, it begins to thicken. You pour a layer of one flavor into a cup, freeze it for five minutes until set, add the next layer, and so on. I found that there was a small window of time when the panna cotta was thick enough that the layers would set quickly in the freezer, but before it became too thick to pour into a smooth layer. I put my panna cotta in five ounce plastic cups; each layer contained the same amount of panna cotta, but because the cups were flared and wider at the top, each layer was shorter than the one beneath it. The top layer was a espresso gelee made from mixing gelatin with brewed espresso and sugar.
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Recipe: "Vietnamese Ice Coffee Panna Cotta," by Zoe Francois.
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