Panna Cotta all'Amaretto

This Panna Cotta is perfect for elegant dinner parties. Silky and smooth, it is perfumed with almond and vanilla. I make it with a full 1/4 cup of Amaretto along with best quality almond and vanilla extracts. Your guests will love this.

Ingredients

For 6 Person(s)

For the Panna Cotta:

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/4 cups whole milk, divided
1/4 cup Amaretto liqueur
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons powdered gelatin
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
chocolate curls to garnish

Directions

Pour 1/4 cup milk in shallow bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over milk and soften five minutes. Be sure all the gelatin comes in contact with the milk - otherwise it will not soften properly.
Pour cream, remaining 1 cup milk and sugar in medium saucepan. Stir to combine. Scald mixture. Do not let mixture boil.
Remove from heat, add softened gelatin, stirring to combine thoroughly. Continue stirring until gelatin has dissolved. The mixture should be quite smooth.
Strain mixture into clean bowl. Add Amaretto and extracts and combine thoroughly.
Set bowl over an ice bath. Stir frequently to promote even cooling until mixture develops the consistency of high-fat heavy cream.
Pour into serving glasses. Cover with plastic and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
Garnish with bittersweet chocolate curls for service.

Recipe Notes

Another benefit to the use of an ice water bath is that the slightly thickened Panna Cotta, once poured into serving glasses can be moved from the work counter to the refrigerator without shifting in the glass. That way I achieve a perfectly even line of Panna Cotta.