I’m officially declaring panna cotta this spring’s dessert. It’s so simple to make, requires barely any cooking, and you can dress it up—or down—however you like. This vanilla panna cotta is topped with a quick blueberry sauce and the best malted milk crumble. It has a blueberry pie kind of vibe, and it’s so good. But you can absolutely serve it as-is—the vanilla bean panna cotta is incredibly delicious on its own. Or add some sliced strawberries, a few raspberries, whatever you’re in the mood for.
This panna cotta comes together with just cream, gelatin, vanilla, sugar, and a pinch of salt. You only heat a small portion of the cream to dissolve the gelatin and sugar, then mix everything together and let it set in the fridge. It’s rich, creamy, very vanilla in flavor, and I plan on making as many variations as possible this season.
I’m officially declaring panna cotta this spring’s dessert. It’s so simple to make, requires barely any cooking, and you can dress it up—or down—however you like.
Ingredients You’ll Need
For The Vanilla Panna Cotta:
- Heavy cream – Get the best quality heavy cream you can, it is pretty much the base of this whole recipe. You are also only going to cook a small portion of the cream to get the gelatin and sugar to dissolve so it retains a lot of its fresh flavor.
- Vanilla – This is an excellent time to use a vanilla bean with the seeds scraped out, but you could also swap in some vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste if you wanted.
- Powdered gelatin – You want to use unflavored powdered gelatin here. You could also swap in 2 sheets of silver gelatin if you have it.
- Sugar – White granulated sugar is what you want for this recipe. It’s just sweet enough.
- Salt – You’ll need a little pinch of salt to balance everything out.
For The Easiest Blueberry Sauce:
- Blueberries – This recipe calls for fresh blueberries but you can certainly swap in frozen or any other fruit you like here. The blueberries will get quickly cooked with some sugar, a splash of water and a pinch of salt to make a quick and easy blueberry sauce.
Almond Oat and Malted Milk Crumble:
I LOVE this crumble and is such a good addition to panna cotta. I would love to say the idea was mine — but like the panna cotta base — it was heavily inspired by the milk crumble from A Very Serious Cookbook.
- Malted Milk Powder – The malted milk powder gives the crumble a super nutty taste and aroma. I like to use King Arthur’s Malted Milk Powder, but use any brand you like.
- Rolled Oats – The oats add lots of texture to the crumble while also giving you a fruit crisp vibe when combined with the blueberry sauce.
- Almonds – You want either whole raw almonds that you’ll chop and mix into the crumble, or you cold use raw slivered or sliced almonds.
- Butter – I use salted butter for this, it’s what I always have on hand, but you can always add in a small pinch of salt if you’re using unsalted butter
- Flour – All-purpose flour works just fine. You need some flour to bind the crumble together.
How to Make this Vanilla Panna Cotta with Blueberry Sauce
Make The Vanilla Panna Cotta:
- In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, a pinch of salt, and 1/2 cup of the heavy cream. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat.
- Remove from the heat and immediately stir in the gelatin until fully dissolved.
- Add the remaining cream and vanilla bean seeds (or vanilla extract), stirring gently to combine.
- Pour the mixture into serving glasses or bowls. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or preferably overnight, until set.
Tip: Save the vanilla pod and store it in a jar of sugar to make vanilla sugar.
Make The Blueberry Sauce:
- Add the blueberries, sugar, water, and salt to a small saucepan.
- Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook for 15–20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the berries burst and the sauce thickens into a syrup.
- Remove from heat and let cool completely.
Make The Crumble Topping:
- Preheat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, mix the melted butter with the almonds, flour, oats, malted milk powder and sugar until evenly combined.
- Spread the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 20 minutes, stirring at the 10-minute and 15-minute marks. During the final minutes, the crumble will start to brown and become fragrant. Keep an eye on it.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely — it’ll get nice and crisp up as it cools.
To Serve:
Spoon the cooled blueberry sauce over the set panna cotta and finish with a generous scoop of the almond, oat and malted milk crumble.
More recipes to Try:
White Chocolate Mousse With Passion Fruit – A creamy, whipped white chocolate mousse that’s light, not overly sweet, and topped with fresh passion fruit.
Pavlova with Balsamic Strawberries – Light vanilla pavlova topped with whipped cream and balsamic macerated strawberries — this summer dessert is crisp, creamy, and full of flavor.
Panna Cotta with Blood Orange, Raspberries, and Pistachios – Creamy panna cotta topped with blood orange–macerated raspberries and chopped pistachios.
Vanilla Panna Cotta with Blueberry Sauce
Ingredients
For The Vanilla Panna Cotta:
- 1 1/2 teaspoons powdered gelatine (~4.5g)
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon sugar (20g)
- Pinch salt
- 2 cups heavy cream (460g)
- 1/2 vanilla bean seeds scraped (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste)
For The Blueberry Sauce:
- 1 1/2 cups blueberries (160g)
- 3 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons sugar (60g)
- Splash water
- Pinch salt
For The Almond, Oat and Malted Milk Crumble:
- 1 3/4 tablespoons salted butter (25g), melted
- 10 almonds (~1 tablespoon whole almonds, or ~10g), chopped
- 2 tablespoons flour (20g)
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon sugar (20g)
- 1 tablespoon malted milk powder (15g)
- 1 tablespoon rolled oats (10g)
Instructions
Make The Vanilla Panna Cotta:
- In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, a pinch of salt, and 1/2 cup of the heavy cream. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat.
- Remove from the heat and immediately stir in the gelatin until fully dissolved.
- Add the remaining cream and vanilla bean seeds (or vanilla extract), stirring gently to combine.
- Pour the mixture into serving glasses or bowls. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or preferably overnight, until set.
- Tip: Save the vanilla pod and store it in a jar of sugar to make vanilla sugar.
Make The Blueberry Sauce:
- Add the blueberries, sugar, water, and salt to a small saucepan.
- Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook for 15–20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the berries burst and the sauce thickens into a syrup.
- Remove from heat and let cool completely.
Make The Crumble Topping:
- Preheat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, mix the melted butter with the almonds, flour, oats, malted milk powder and sugar until evenly combined.
- Spread the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 20 minutes, stirring at the 10-minute and 15-minute marks. During the final minutes, the crumble will start to brown and become fragrant. Keep an eye on it.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely —it’ll get nice and crispy up as it cools.
To Serve:
- Spoon the cooled blueberry sauce over the set panna cotta and finish with a generous sprinkle of the almond oat and malted milk crumble.
Video
Did You Make This Recipe?
Leave a comment with your thoughts or share your version on Instagram by tagging @TheMostHungry. I’d love to see how you made it your own!
Sources and Inspiration:
Stone, Jeremiah, et al. A Very Serious Cookbook: Contra Wildair. Phaidon Press, 2018.
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Hi, I'm Rachel — the cook, photographer, and recipe developer behind Most Hungry.
This is my go-to spot for bold, approachable recipes rooted in Italian and Italian-American cooking, from hand-rolled fresh pasta to fall-off-the-bone ribs. Great food should be fun, doable, and absolutely delicious. Learn more about me →
