Forest fruit buttermilk panna cotta

I have the easiest buttermilk panna cotta recipe ever! It's also the best, but I don't want to brag. For something so tasty it is surprisingly easy to make. Although I've made it several times I never put down the recipe or made pictures so today is the day. 

I put some of my findings at the end of this post so make sure you read it all before you try it yourself.

This is the panna cotta I made for a dinner party yesterday. The fruit color has soaked down  to the white creamy panna cotta giving it a very pretty pink shade.

This is my to got to recipe for about 4 ramakins just as the one you see in the picture. It can easily be doubled or tripled or multiplied by any factor you want. The basis recipe is:

- 200 ml whipping cream

- 200 ml forest fruit buttermilk

- 2 big tablespoons of sugar

- 2 sheets of gelatin (about 3 grams)

- vanilla sugar or a drop of vanilla paste

- pinch of salt (optional)

First I soaked the gelatin in a bit of cold water so they soften.

Then I head up the whipping cream with the sugar. When the sugar dissolves I add the vanilla sugar/paste and the salt. The whipping cream just has to be hot, so it doesn't have to boil. Normally when the sugar dissolves the whipping cream is hot enough. 

I get the sheets of gelatin out of the water and mix them with the whipping cream. Then the buttermilk gets mixed in and the panna cotta mixture is good to go.

I poured the mixture in the ramekins and cover them with some plastic wrap before they go in to the fridge to set. It just needs a couple of hours so if you make this in the morning you can serve it for dessert in the evening. 

To make it extra special I made a topping to go with the panna cotta. I always have some frozen forest fruits in my freezer and they pair just perfect.

What you need for the fruit layer is:

- frozen forest fruit (or any other fruit you like)

- some sugar

- bit of lemon/lime juice

- 1 soaked sheet of gelatin (about 1,5 grams)

I know this is a bit vague, but basically you will need to extract about 200 ml of juice.

So I headed up the fruit together with the sugar and lemon juice and I adapted the flavor to my liking. If I want it a bit sweeter I add some more sugar. If it needs a bit more freshness I add some more lemon juice. Some like it sweet and some like it tart so there is no right or wrong there.

Then I strained the fruit to just get the juice. I need 200 ml juice and to this I mixed in the gelatin sheet. If the fruit juice cooled down to much you will have to heat it up a bit otherwise the gelatin will not dissolve. 

When the panna cotta is set (enough) I poured the fruit juice on top and again it has to sit in the fridge till it sets. 

I noticed that with this ratio of whipping cream, buttermilk and gelatin you will get the most silky smooth panna cotta that just melts in your mouth. 

I haven't tried this recipe with normal buttermilk, but if you do then you might need to add some more sugar to the whipping cream. The forest fruit buttermilk is already a bit sweet so that's why only 2 tablespoons of sugar is enough.

Also I haven't made this recipe with gelatin powder, but if I would I think I would let it soak in a bit of cold buttermilk first. For the same results the amount of ingredients needs to be the same.