Saffron Panna Cotta

One of the questions we get asked most often at SpiceTopia is, “what recipes can you use saffron in?” And although saffron is a traditional addition to rice and savory dishes across the Middle East and India, we especially enjoy this special spice in sweet desserts like this Panna Cotta recipe! 

Panna Cotta is a traditional Italian dish usually flavored with vanilla extract. The addition of saffron and cardamom pods brings a little bit of India to this gorgeous and delicious dessert! 

We made these panna cottas fancy by chilling them on an angle before topping with whipped cream, rose petals, and chopped pistachios. They look fancy, but are seriously easy to make with just about twenty minutes of effort! 

Just What is Panna Cotta?

Panna cotta is a traditional Italian dessert which translates from Italian to English as  ‘cooked cream’. With just a few simple ingredients of cream, milk, sugar, and vanilla that are set with gelatin, the final eggless custard is rich and silky smooth. 

Panna Cotta Ingredients

Saffron.

Saffron has a very unique flavor. Sweet, floral, and earthy all at once which gives this easy panna cotta recipe a distinct flavor.  Saffron is one of the most expensive spices in the world. The stamen of a crocus flower, this spice must be handpicked one stamen at a time. Only one harvest a year is possible, and it takes about 70,000 crocuses to make up one pound of saffron.

But the good news is that it takes just a small amount to give this recipe its saffron flavor. Use just one healthy pinch (between 30 - 50 threads). 

And SpiceTopia sells saffron in small jars of one gram making this spice more affordable.

Cardamom. 

Cardamom has a bit of sweetness, a bit of citrus flavor, and a really tiny bit of warmth. All of those flavors pair really well with saffron. When enjoying this panna cotta, you won’t be thinking about cardamom, but you will notice undertones of something special–that’s the cardamom.

Use whole cardamom pods which have been just slightly crushed. 

Rose Petals. 

We use rose petals in this recipe simply for a garnish. Feel free to skip. If you do use rose petals, be sure to use those that are safe for consumption – free from pesticides or fungicides that can be used in the growing process of commercial roses. SpiceTopia offers rosebuds and petals that are certified organic and safe to eat. 

Salt. Just a pinch of salt helps to balance the sweetness of any dessert. Our everyday salt is SpiceTopia’s Pacific Flake Sea Salt. 

Find these spices and over 100 more at SpiceTopia!

Unflavored Gelatin. Unflavored Gelatin is a thickening agent made of tiny granules that have no color or flavor. It’s like jello without the sugar and color added. It can come in a box with individual envelopes of gelatin or in a cardboard canister with loose gelatin. 

This recipe calls for 2 ¼ teaspoons of unflavored gelatin. Panna Cotta should have a wobbly creamy texture. Use too much gelatin and your panna cotta will be stiff and hard. Don’t use enough and your dessert doesn’t set up. 

Keep in mind that an envelope of gelatin powder may contain anywhere from ¼ - ½ ounce, so do not rely on the envelope having the correct amount of gelatin. Pour it out into a small bowl and measure the exact amount needed. 

Vanilla Extract. Just a bit of Vanilla Extract helps to bring out the flavors of the tea. You could also use the caviar from ¼ of a whole Vanilla Bean instead of Vanilla Extract. 

Want to make your own Vanilla Extract? Check out SpiceTopia’s Guide to Making Your Own Homemade Vanilla Extract Recipe.

Pistachios. Any pistachios will work in this recipe. Again, they are just a garnish, but we think they add texture to this dessert which is quite enjoyable. 

Sugar. This recipe calls for white sugar. We like using raw sugar. Coconut sugar will also work. You can also use brown sugar, but keep in mind it will affect the color of your panna cotta.  

Dairy. Panna Cotta translates into cooked cream. While traditional panna cotta is made with all cream, over the years we’ve settled on the ratio of ½ cream & ½ whole milk. This lightens it up while still creating an indulgent creamy dessert! 

That being said, any combination of dairy will work. Dairy combinations we’ve tried with success: 

• All milk 
• All cream
• All half & half
• Half cream and half half & half (trying saying that really fast five times!)
• Half cream & half buttermilk
• Sour cream thinned down with milk 
• Yogurt thinned down with cream

You get the picture– just about any dairy combination works. We do suggest sticking with the full-fat versions of dairy products as they produce a creamy panna cotta. 

Can I make Panna Cotta with plant-based milks? 

If you would like to make a dairy-free panna cotta, several plant-based milk alternatives work better than others. 

We have not had success using soy milk or rice milk in panna cotta recipes. They tend to separate when heated and the texture in the final product was more jello than creamy. Soy milk also produces a rather gray panna cotta! 

A combination of unsweetened and unflavored Oat milk or almond milk with coconut milk turned out well with this recipe. Use the coconut milk found in a can (instead of the refrigerated coconut milk beverage). Combining half oat or almond milk with half coconut milk mimics the fat content found in a dairy milk and cream combination and creates a creamy panna cotta.

How to Make Panna Cotta

As we mentioned above, making panna cotta isn’t difficult. Creating a basic panna cotta takes just four easy steps. We’ve added an extra step of infusing the milk mixture with saffron, but still super easy! 

1. Bloom the gelatin. One cup of cold milk is placed in a bowl and the gelatin is sprinkled over the milk. This step rehydrates the gelatin. Let this sit while you move on with the rest of the recipe. You’ll notice the mixture turns into something that looks like a brain! Give it a stir after that happens and let it continue sitting. 
2. Make the cream mixture. While your gelatin is blooming, heat the remaining milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla together in a saucepan until hot and it just barely simmers.
3. Infuse the cream mixture. Remove the cream from the heat and add the saffron and cardamom to that mixture. Allow to steep for 15 minutes. 
4. Add the gelatin. After steeping, remove the cardamom pods from the cream mixture. At this point, you can strain the mixture to remove the saffron threads. We choose not to do that as we enjoy seeing the saffron in our panna cotta. 
5. Then place the pot back on the lowest of heat. Add the milk with the gelatin to the saucepan. Whisk until smooth. Make sure the mixture is completely smooth and that there are no little crystals remaining. Once the gelatin is added, do not allow the mixture to come to a boil as this will kill the gelatin. 
6. Portion, set, and serve. Pour your panna cotta mixture into individual ramekins and place in the refrigerator to set for a minimum of 4 hours. To serve, top with whipped cream, rose petals, and chopped pistachios.

We did get fancy by setting our panna cottas on an angle. It wasn’t hard to do. We simply set our glasses in a ramekin on an angle. If you don’t have ramekins, make a nest with foil that the glasses can be nestled into on an angle. 

Looking for more sweet saffron recipes? Our Orange Saffron Tea Bread recipe is just as easy to make as this saffron panna cotta and is fun to share with friends and family! 

Let’s Get Cooking!