The Italian dessert made from sweetened cream, gelatin, and often fruit or caramel is panna cotta. Its name literally means “cooked cream,” although the cream is usually only warmed enough to dissolve the sugar and gelatin.
Panna cotta is associated with Italy’s Piedmont region, where it appears on the region’s traditional-food list. The dessert is poured into moulds and chilled until it sets into a softly trembling, sliceable texture. Vanilla is common, but coffee, rum, and other flavorings are also used.
Its modern name does not appear in Italian cookbooks before the 1960s, despite the dessert often being described as an older Piedmontese tradition. One unverified story credits a Hungarian woman in the Langhe during the early 19th century. Panna cotta became especially fashionable in the United States during the 1990s.
It is sometimes mistaken for custard, but custard is thickened with egg yolks, while panna cotta relies on gelatin. Berry coulis, caramel, chocolate sauce, fresh fruit, and liqueurs are frequent toppings.