When summer calls for a dessert, I usually bake up a fresh fruit pie or find the closest ice cream parlor. But this coconut panna cotta with mixed berry coulis, adapted from a recipe from Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Cooking, combines the fruit from the pie and the cold sweetness of ice cream and hits the mark perfectly.
Instead of using the traditional heavy cream to make panna cotta, this version uses coconut milk, a great alternative that tastes like I’m vacationing in Oahu. Plus berries! Lots and lots of berries. I made this a little un-vegetarian friendly by using gelatin as a thickening agent because I couldn’t find agar agar on short notice, but swap one for the other if that’s your thing.
This Tuesday is the full moon, the second to last full moon before the fall equinox and the last true “summer” moon in my book. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than with these moon-like panna cottas topped with summer’s bounty.
coconut panna cotta with berry coulis
for the panna cotta:
1 14-oz. can full-fat coconut milk
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 T agar flakes, or 1 packet of gelatin
for the berry coulis:
2 cups of mixed berries
1/4 cup or less of sugar, depending on the sweetness of the berries
juice of half a lemon
Prepare this dessert on the night of the full moon, with the moon rising big and fat like a giant coconut outside your kitchen window.
To make the panna cotta, combine the coconut milk, milk, sugar, and gelatin in a saucepan and stir. Let sit for 10 minutes for the gelatin to dissolve. Slowly, bring the ingredients to a simmer and simmer for five minutes. Sing to your saucepan and dance around your kitchen. Your food will soak in the love you put into it. Take the panna cotta mixture off the heat, ladle into pretty ramekins, and chill until set, a couple hours. If you want to unmold the panna cotta for presentation, be sure to oil your ramekins with coconut oil in advance.
Make the berry coulis by combining the berries, sugar and lemon in a saucepan over low heat, and bring to a simmer. Mash the berries a little bit, then store the coulis in a jar in the fridge.
To serve, spoon a generous helping of berry coulis over the panna cotta.
Sounds delicious! Can’t wait to give it a whirl and a twirl 🙂
Looks very yummy! 🙂
I like the image of you dancing around your kitchen. 🙂
Love it, so simple and tasty! I’ve been wanting to try to make a dairy-free panna cotta, do you think this would work by using only coconut milk and no whole milk?
Probably? I’d try mixing a can of coconut milk with another coconut milk, like So Delicious, to balance out the flavor and texture.
panna cotta is one of my favourite desserts. thanks for the recipe! I like the slightly asian tweak with coconut milk.
I just saw a very similar recipe on pinterest. this just confirms it, I must make this! yummm <3
The universe CLEARLY wants you to make coconut panna cotta.
Oh sooo lovely! Thank you for succulent creations—you make everything look easy!
Thank you dear!
Panna cotta is in the fridge. Off to make the coulis. Will report back soon….
YES!
Being that I’ve never made any kind of panna cotta before, I had great success. I LOVED the mild taste of coconut. The whole thing was light and creamy (perfect for the full moon in August!) the coulis was great, I just put too much of it on mine. I will be making this again and adding a touch of vanilla. I also loved that it wasn’t too sweet. THANKS!
I love coconut. I love pana cotta. I can’t wait to try it!!