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    Home » Recipes » Italian Desserts

    Chocolate Panna Cotta

    Published: Nov 7, 2017, Last updated: Feb 24, 2020 by Emily This post may contain affiliate links.

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    Chocolate Panna Cotta, it's creamy and smooth with a rich chocolate flavour. Easy to whip up then left to chill in the fridge, it's the perfect make-ahead dessert for dinner parties, weekends and special occasions.

    Panna Cotta is a traditional Italian dessert that literally means cooked cream. It's one of the simplest desserts you can make and you can change it up with so many different flavours such as classic vanilla, lemon, strawberry and of course chocolate!

    Close up of chocolate panna cotta in a glass bowl topped with grated chocolate.

    What Chocolate To Use?

    Dark chocolate is my favourite type of chocolate to use when making desserts. This Panna Cotta is made with sugar, vanilla, cream and milk so dark chocolate is perfect for this recipe, I recommend using at least 70% cacao. Milk chocolate would make this dessert much sweeter and would lack the intense chocolate flavour this dessert has.

    Adding chocolate to the panna cotta gives it almost a mousse-like texture, it's smooth and creamy and slightly fluffy. It's extremely delicious and a great, light dessert for after dinner.

    • If you love white chocolate then check out my White Chocolate Panna Cotta Recipe.

    How To Make Chocolate Panna Cotta - Step By Step

    First, add the gelatine leaves to a bowl of cold water and let it sit for 10 minutes until soft.

    Add the cream, milk, sugar to the sauce pan. Scrape the vanilla seeds from inside the pod and add the vanilla to a saucepan on medium/low heat. Heat the mixture until the sugar has dissolved. Bring the milk and cream to a simmer then turn off the heat.

    Tip: Place your used vanilla pod in a jar of sugar, this will add a lovely vanilla flavour to the sugar that can be used when baking.

    Add the finely chopped chocolate to the milk and cream and stir slowly until the chocolate has completely melted (photos 1-5)

    Step by step photos on how to make chocolate panna cotta

    Squeeze the gelatine to remove as much water as possible then add it to the hot cream and chocolate. Whisk constantly until the gelatin has melted then set the saucepan aside to cool (photos 6-8).

    Once cooled strain the mixture into serving glasses and place in the fridge to set for at least 2-3 hours before serving.

    More Italian Desserts To Try;

    • Orange chocolate cantucci biscuits
    • Pandoro Christmas cake with pistachios and white chocolate
    • Tiramisu ice cream
    • Apple olive oil cake
    • Chocolate hazelnut ice cream

    A close up of chocolate panna cotta with a spoonful of panna cotta in the background

    If you've tried this chocolate panna cotta or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I'm getting up to.

    Step By Step Photos AboveMost of our recipes come with step by step photos, helpful tips and tricks to make it perfectly first time and even video!
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    4.91 from 10 votes

    Chocolate Panna Cotta

    Chocolate Panna Cotta, it's creamy and smooth with a rich chocolate flavour. It's the perfect make-ahead dessert for dinner parties, weekends and special occasions.
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine Italian
    Prep Time 10 minutes
    Cook Time 10 minutes
    Total Time 20 minutes
    Servings 6 people
    Calories 355kcal
    Author Emily Kemp

    Ingredients

    • 1 ¼ cup (300ml) cream
    • 1 ⅛ cup (250ml) milk
    • 3 leaves gelatine * see notes for conversion
    • 1 ½ tbsp (20g) sugar
    • 3.5 oz (100g) dark chocolate 70% cacao , finely chopped (or use dark chocolate chips)
    • ½ vanilla pod

    Instructions

    • First, add the gelatine leaves to a bowl of cold water and let it sit for 10 minutes until soft.
    • Add the cream, milk, sugar to a saucepan. Scrape the vanilla seeds from the bean/pod and add vanilla to a saucepan on medium/low heat. Heat the mixture until the sugar has dissolved. Bring the milk and cream to a simmer then turn off the heat.
    • Add the finely chopped chocolate to the milk and cream and stir slowly until the chocolate has completely melted.
    • Squeeze the gelatine to remove as much water as possible then add it to the hot cream and chocolate. Whisk constantly until the gelatin has melted then set the saucepan aside to cool.
    • Once cooled strain the mixture into serving glasses and place in the fridge to set for 2-3 hours.

    Notes

    • You can substitute 3 gelatine leaves for 1 tablespoon of powdered gelatine. Please note I have not tested this recipe with powdered gelatin.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 355kcal
    Helpful Info for All Recipes
    • I always use extra virgin olive oil in all of my recipes unless stated otherwise
    • When I use canned or jarred tomatoes of any kind I always use Cirio or Mutti brands for the best results and flavour.
    • All vegetables are medium sized unless stated otherwise
    • All recipes are tested and developed using a fan (convection) oven
    • Find out more about how nutrition is calculated.
    • Check out our must have Italian Pantry Staples.
    • You can also find all our Essential Kitchen Tools for Italian Cooking.
    Did you try this recipe?Mention @insidetherustickitchen or tag #insidetherustickitchen! We'd love you see what you're getting up to in the kitchen!

    More Italian Desserts

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      Italian Nutella Cookies (Nutellotti)
    • Five Cuccidati cookies on a plate with fake white snow scattered around.
      Cuccidati (Italian Fig Cookies)
    • An overhead shot of amaretti cookies on a wooden surface some in pink and green wrappers.
      Soft Amaretti Cookies (Amaretti Morbidi)
    • Chocolate tiramisu in an oval dish sitting on a rustic wooden background with pieces of chocolate at the side
      Irresistible Chocolate Tiramisu

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Laura

      November 08, 2020 at 12:45 am

      Is there a way of stopping the thicker skin you get on top of the panna cotta when it has set in the fridge?

      Reply
      • Inside the rustic kitchen

        November 08, 2020 at 2:43 pm

        Hmm, I've never had that happen before. I would try putting plastic wrap (cling film) directly on top of the panna cotta after pouring it into moulds or glasses, that's what I do with custards to prevent a skin forming.

        Reply
        • CurlyhairYogigirl

          August 22, 2021 at 7:23 pm

          Straining the mixture before pouring into the dessert cups will prevent the “skim” for forming.

    2. Chris C.

      August 21, 2020 at 3:51 pm

      Tried out this recipe the other day the texture was amazing!

      I substituted the 3 gelatin leaves for 1 gelatin envelope. it works! when re hydrating the envelope you may want to use 2.5-3 tbsp of water.

      also if you use dark chocolate you may have to add more sugar to balance out the flavors. I went with a 78% cocoa. there was still a rich chocolate flavor, but i would up the sugar to about 2.5-3 tbsp or so.

      overall great and easy to follow recipe.5 stars

      Reply
      • Inside the rustic kitchen

        August 24, 2020 at 10:37 am

        Hi Chris, thanks for sharing your great tips, I'm so happy you enjoyed it!

        Reply
    3. Barbara Turner

      March 21, 2020 at 12:45 am

      Gonna try it! Looks better than my fav - Mousse! Can't wait!4 stars

      Reply
    4. Lisa

      November 14, 2017 at 3:19 pm

      I want to crawl through the screen - that panna cotta looks luscious! I think that's what I want for Thanksgiving dessert -- to heck with pumpkin pie!5 stars

      Reply
    5. Liz @ I Heart Vegetables

      November 14, 2017 at 2:38 pm

      Wow that looks delicious! (And your photos are so gorgeous!) I've never had a chocolate panna cotta!5 stars

      Reply
    6. chris

      November 14, 2017 at 12:44 pm

      I don't have a massive sweet tooth but this chocolate panna cotta could well be a game changer. It looks absolutely HEAVENLY! Thanks for sharing 🙂5 stars

      Reply
    7. Maria | passion fruit, paws and peonies

      November 14, 2017 at 9:54 am

      This is my type of recipe! Wonderful! x

      Reply
      • Inside the rustic kitchen

        November 14, 2017 at 10:10 am

        Thank you Maria, so happy you like it!

        Reply
    8. maria

      November 07, 2017 at 10:42 pm

      I am definitely a fan of dark chocolate and I am drooling right now!!! This looks amazing. Fantastic photography... thanks for posting ♥5 stars

      Reply
      • Inside the rustic kitchen

        November 09, 2017 at 1:53 pm

        Aw, thanks so much Maria that's so nice of you!

        Reply
    9. Patty

      November 07, 2017 at 4:58 pm

      Exactly the recipe I was looking for! I'm in love with chocolate panna cotta, my family will love it too!5 stars

      Reply
      • Inside the rustic kitchen

        November 09, 2017 at 1:52 pm

        I hope they do, you can't go wrong with chocolate and cream!

        Reply
    10. Traci @ The Kitchen Girl

      November 07, 2017 at 4:20 pm

      This looks like the perfect dessert any night of the week! Such a cute idea...love the individual servings 🙂5 stars

      Reply
      • Inside the rustic kitchen

        November 09, 2017 at 1:52 pm

        Thanks so much Traci!

        Reply
    11. Pretty

      November 07, 2017 at 4:13 pm

      I love the easy step but step instructions, can't wait to try this recipe.5 stars

      Reply
      • Inside the rustic kitchen

        November 09, 2017 at 1:51 pm

        Thanks so much Pretty!

        Reply
    12. Vicky @ Avocado Pesto

      November 07, 2017 at 4:10 pm

      Panna cotta is literally one of my all time favorite desserts! it is simply the best and love the idea of a chocolate flavor!5 stars

      Reply
      • Inside the rustic kitchen

        November 09, 2017 at 1:51 pm

        It's so delicious with chocolate, it's one of my favourites too!

        Reply
    13. Kristina

      November 07, 2017 at 3:23 pm

      anything that translates to cooked cream? and has chocolate?! *pulls up a chair with a spoon* YES please! this looks amazing!

      Reply
      • Inside the rustic kitchen

        November 09, 2017 at 1:50 pm

        Haha I know right? there's no way it couldn't taste good!

        Reply

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