Vegan panna cotta with figs

Vegan panna cotta with figs

vegan panna cotta with figs side view

Strangely, today’s recipe for vegan panna cotta is the very first recipe I did for this blog. It was almost a year ago when the idea for the Lazy Cat Kitchen was born and, as it was end of summer, the first dish I shot was a portion of wobbly panna cotta with a succulent fig relish. It took a few months to get the website ready and to do the initial recipes and by the time we were ready to launch (at the end of January this year) this recipe became a bit less relevant, so I decided to wait with it until this summer. It’s crazy how eventful the past seven months have been. The blog went from being this sketchy idea in my head to a fully fledged, functioning website that’s getting more and more popular by the day. I still remember showing the designs of the blog to my friends and telling them how that’s now going to be my full time job. Looking back, I think they might have thought we were crazy and I don’t blame them. I sometimes think that myself! It’s been (and still is) a massive learning curve and something I would not swap for anything else. The more I do it the more I love it and seeing that my passion is getting noticed is a massive reward in itself.

Panna cotta is a cold Italian dessert that’s traditionally made with cream. I made mine with coconut cream (rather than milk) to mimic dairy cream’s richness and the result is very pleasing. As a big fan of Masterchef, I was very aware that, as John Torode always points out whenever a panna cotta is being judged, a decent wobble is a must when it comes to this delicate dessert. I’m pleased to say that our panna cotta is definitely wobbly one. I realise that we live in a bit of a seasonal bubble and while here in Greece summer is still in force, autumn has already showed up in the rest of Europe. So if getting fresh figs is an impossible task, feel free to substitute them with other seasonal fruit (like plums for example). The result will be just as delicious.

fresh figs duo

vegan panna cotta with figs table setting

vegan panna cotta top down

serves
4
PREP
5 min
COOKING
15 min
serves
4
PREPARATION
5 min
COOKING
15 min
INGREDIENTS

PANNA COTTA

  • 2 cups / 580 ml coconut cream
  • 1½ level tsp agar agar flakes
  • ¼ cup / 60 ml maple syrup
  • 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped

FIG SAUCE

  • 8 ripe black figs, cut into quarters
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • ½ tbsp lemon juice
METHOD
  1. Put coconut milk, agar agar, maple syrup and vanilla seeds into a small pan. Gently bring it up to boil then simmer for a few minutes stirring frequently.
  2. OPTIONAL STEP: to be able to unmould panna cotta easier, you may want to grease the ramekins with a tiny bit of flavourless oil (like refined coconut oil, for example).
  3. Put coconut cream through a fine sieve before dividing the mixture between ramekins to get rid of undissolved agar agar flakes. Pour strained mixture into ramekins and leave it aside for 3-4 hours to set.
  4. Put figs into a small pot with maple syrup, lemon juice and a dash of water and simmer on a very low heat until figs have softened and their juices thickened up into a sauce.
  5. Unmould panna cotta by running a knife gently along the wall of a ramekin. Put the ramekin upside down on a plate and (holding the plate and the ramekin firmly together) lower the plate suddenly with your hands until you hear a noise. Repeat with all 4 ramekins. Serve with fig relish poured on top.
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NUTRITIONAL INFO
calories
540
27%
sugars
85 g
94%
fats
20 g
28%
saturates
19 g
93%
proteins
2 g
4%
carbs
91 g
35%
*per panna cotta
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5.0
3 reviews, 14 comments
REVIEWS & QUESTIONS
Jane Denton:
This is a VEGAN blog. Why would Ania encourage animal abuse (gelatin) ? Seriously?
Hannah:
Haven’t made this but want to try.. don’t have any agar..
I know it’s vegan but what would be the measurements for replacing the agar with gelatin?
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Hannah,
    I am not sure but Google will surely have the answer for you :) Ania
Simo:
Hi
I tried making this, it’s not soft . I don’t know how that happen, I tried many times and it’s still not soft. I used agar agar powder instead Of flakes, thank you for sharing. But would like to know how to make soft panna cotta
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Simo,
    It's because agar powder is 3 times as potent as the flakes so when using powder you need to use approximately only ½ tsp. Hope that helps! Ania
Melissa:
I've made this recipe a bunch of times with different toppings (fruit compote, etc). People love it and it always turns out! Note that the amount of agar changes if you are using powder instead of flake, and I definitely recommend sieving after using the flake, as not all of it will dissolve. I use slightly more agar flake (I just round the tsp. instead of level it) to account for the bit that gets sieved out and it comes out great every time. Thank you for sharing!
    Ania
    Ania:
    I am so pleased to hear that, Melissa! Thank you for taking the time to rate this recipe - much appreciated! Yes, you are totally right. When I created this recipe I lived in a remote Greek island and all I could get hold of was flakes so I had no experience using powder (like I do now) so I will add a note to the recipe about using small quantity of powder instead. Thanks! Ania
Kelly:
Hi. When you say you use coconut cream, do you mean coconut milk from a can? I know you can get coconut cream as well, but I've only seen recipes use the milk before.
Thanks
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Kelly,
    Yes, I mean coconut cream that you can either buy in a can or obtain it from a can of full fat coconut milk yourself by chilling it in the fridge for a few days. After a few days coconut cream separates from the water and rises to the top of the can (it's best if it contains no additives as they often stop the separation from happening). Hope that answers your question. Ania
Sarah:
I have made this and it's delicious!! thank you!!! Just wondering if you think this will be suitable to freeze? I am making them in cups that they will be eaten straight out of :)
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Sarah!
    That's great to hear, thanks so much! I have not tried myself, but I reckon they should be fine! Alternatively, given that agar sets so quickly - you could freeze the 'custard' before you add agar and set it on the day. Hope that helps! Ania
Sarah | Well and Full:
It is so cool that you made panna cotta with agar agar!! I'm definitely giving this technique a try :)
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you:) Yes, it works a treat - it took me a while to calibrate the exact amount of agar agar, but the end result surpassed my expectations.
Anna:
od dawna za mną chodzi kokosowa panna cotta :)) chyba mnie przekonałaś!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Dzięki:) - mam nadzieję, że Ci zasmakuje!
janet @ the taste space:
Hi Ania, I recently found your blog through pinterest and absolutely love it. Your panna cotta turned out better than my previous attempt. Mine was more of a creme caramel consistency which was still good, though.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Janet. Thank you - that's so nice to hear that you like the blog so much! Comments like yours make it so worthwhile:) With regards to the panna cotta, do you mean that it turned out a bit firmer than you expected?
    Mine was very wobbly and only just barley holding together but the result may vary slightly depending on the type of agar used. I used flakes and I sieved them out after boiling.
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