Rosemary Lemon Panna Cotta

This rosemary lemon panna cotta has the combination of two irresistible flavors coming together in one luscious, creamy dessert.

No one can resist a silky smooth bite of panna cotta- it is one of the easiest classic desserts to whip up when you’re hosting a little get-together at home or are feeding a crowd- almost everyone loves it!

This rosemary lemon panna cotta recipe is just that, but it also packs in some incredibly unique flavors that you’ll enjoy discovering. Plus, it is actually super fun to make too.

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Ingredients For the Recipe
How to Make the Rosemary Lemon Panna Cotta
Frequently Asked Questions
Tips to Make the Rosemary Lemon Panna Cotta
Recipe
Discussion

Ready to give the recipe a shot in your kitchen? Scroll down to get a quick gist of everything you need to know about the recipe before you do.

Ingredients For the Recipe

You’ll need a few simple classic panna cotta ingredients to make this recipe.

1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin
2 tablespoon cold water
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup half and half or whole milk
⅓ cup sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla
2 sprigs rosemary
Zest of 1 lemon

side zoom image of Rosemary Lemon Panna Cotta with half lemon in background

Kitchen Tools Needed

How to Make the Rosemary Lemon Panna Cotta

Once you have all your ingredients ready, here’s the process you need to follow to make the rosemary lemon panna cotta.

Place the gelatin in the cold water and let it sit for 1 minute.

In a pot combine heavy cream, rosemary, and lemon zest.

cook it properly until everything is mixed well

Cook over medium heat for around 5 minutes, mixing constantly.

Remove the rosemary and lemon zest and add the sugar and milk in the mixture.

put it back on heat to dissolve everything in pot

Continue to cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, mixing constantly.

At the end add the gelatin and vanilla and stir until combined.

Divide the mixture into 8 cups or less depending on the size of the cups you will be using and leave them in a fridge for at least 4 hours.

Rosemary Lemon Panna Cotta served on a cloth with rosemary leaves

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I Make This Without Gelatin?

Agar is the most common replacement for gelatin, and it can work wonderfully while making the panna cotta too. The amount of agar you will need, however, might not be the same as the amount of gelatin you’re using, so keep an eye out for the conversions before you proceed.
If you’re not too sure about using agar, pectin can be a good alternative too.

What Can I Use Instead of Heavy Cream?

Heavy cream is what lends the panna cotta its creamy flavor. If you’re looking for an alternative, full-fat Greek yogurt is your best bet. It is obviously healthier than heavy cream, but will also lend a nice bit of tangy flavor to your panna cotta, which can work really well in your favor for this recipe in particular.
Using low-fat cream or yogurt is not recommended for this recipe, as it can actually turn your panna cotta super watery and less flavorful.

What Do I Do if the Panna Cotta Doesn’t Set?

There are several reasons why your panna cotta might not have been set. Certain fruits contain enzymes that can interfere with the gelatin’s ability to set and firm up the mixture. Regardless of what the reason is, you can quickly fix it by reheating the mixture and adding some more gelatin to it. Remember not to get it up to boil, or you’ll be back to square one.

How Do I Store the Rosemary Lemon Panna Cotta?

Your panna cotta needs to be stored in the refrigerator at all times. It can stay good in there for up to 10 days. Just remember to cover the dessert glasses or ramekins or any other serving container you’re using with cling wrap before you put it into the refrigerator.

What Do I Top the Panna Cotta With?

With a classic like panna cotta, there are a lot of different topping options you can experiment with. For a little crunchy texture, you can top it with some chopped nuts like walnuts or pistachios. Craving for a little extra pop of flavor? Create a simple lemony syrup using sugar, water, and lemon juice, and pour it over the panna cotta right before you serve.
You can also create a sugar brittle or some spun sugar to place over the top of the panna cotta and make it look super fancy. Some candied lemon slices or fresh rosemary sprigs can also work wonderfully. And if nothing else seems to click for you, you can top the panna cotta with some graham cracker crumbs.

Tips to Make the Rosemary Lemon Panna Cotta

Think you’re ready to give this creative panna cotta recipe a try? Keep these little tips in mind before you do, and you’re pretty much set.

While you can always use sugar for this recipe, confectioner’s sugar is the much preferred choice. The latter has sugar crystals coated in cornflour, which can help the sugar dissolve readily into the mixture, and also cause the mixture to thicken up a bit, which is exactly what you need for the panna cotta.
Make sure you allow atleast 4 hours of refrigeration time for the panna cotta to set. If you want to make this in a hurry, you can pop it into the refrigerator for a few minutes and then back into the refrigerator.
The rosemary lemon panna cotta mixture can be poured into dessert glasses or ramekins- it all depends on what you have at hand. If you are planning to demold the panna cotta and serve it on a small plate, make sure you spray some non-stick cooking spray on the container before you pour the panna cotta mixture in.
To make this dessert look fancier, you can create a quick lemon jelly using a packaged jelly mix and pour the mixture over the completely cooled and set panna cotta and pop it into the freezer for a few minutes until the jelly sets too.

Surprised at how easy it was to make this rosemary lemon panna cotta? Looking to try some more such easy recipes? Here are a few worth checking out.

Recipe

Yield: 8 Cups