Rich, creamy vanilla bean panna cotta topped with caramel dulce de leche and Himalayan pink salt –  Quick and easy 15 minute make-ahead dessert that you’ll fall in love with!

Let’s start this off right, have you ever had Panna Cotta? It is a incredibly simple Italian eggless custard that you can whip up on the stovetop in about 10 minutes. Seriously. I absolutely love to make panna cotta because it’s like adult pudding. You can make it WAY ahead for dinner parties, it’s very impressive and fun to say “pannnnna cotta!,” and you can top the vanilla bean infused custard with anything or everything.

This time around, I chose to top mine with a rich caramel dulce de leche sauce, which you can totally buy (trader joes has an amazing Salted Caramel Sauce that works really well) or make your own. I’ll put instructions below if you want to make your own, it’s surprisingly very simple. If you’re into something more fruity, you could macerate some berries in sugar and lemon zest, orange segments, mango…I mean anything goes with vanilla bean panna cotta. Next thing, I add two tablespoons of Disaronno, which is an amaretto almond liqueur. It adds a beautiful background almond flavor without being too overwhelming or boozy. If you’re not into (but I think you should be!) leave it out. This recipe is very riff-able.

One thing you may be doing for the first time when you make this recipe is using gelatin. Don’t be intimidated. First, let me explain to you where to find it: in almost every grocery store, next to the Jell-O boxes, you’ll find a small box of gelatin packets. You need to ‘bloom’ the gelatin powder by pouring it over a few tablespoons of cold water in a small bowl. Let it stand for a couple of minutes, and you will see it instantly thicken the liquid. Then, all you have to do is whisk it into the warm milk and sugar mixture, and that’s it! I top it all off with a little finely ground pink salt right before serving, but if you have flakey sea salt, like Maldon, that would be amazing here as well. Plan ahead, this Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta needs to chill for at least 3-4 hours before you can dive in <3

Love this recipe? Be sure to check out Chocolate Creme Cups, White Chocolate Mousse with Roasted Strawberries, Fresh Strawberry Mascarpone Mousse

Make sure to tag me @leanne.shor on Instagram if you make this Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Dulce de Leche and Pink Salt! I love seeing my recipes come to life! To pin this recipe and save it to your favorite boards, simply Tap any image on this page and the ‘Pin It!’ icon will appear, or click the icon at the end of each post 

xxoo, LeAnne

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Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Dulce de Leche and Pink Salt

Rich, creamy vanilla bean panna cotta topped with caramel dulce de leche and Himalayan pink salt -  Quick and easy 15 minute make-ahead dessert that you'll fall in love with!

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

chill time 3 hours hours

Servings 5 people

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup cold water
• 2 tsp powdered unflavored gelatin
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/8 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp Disaronno amaretto liqueur optional
• 1 cup dulce de leche or good caramel sauce
• 1 tsp pink Himalayan salt

Instructions

• Pour the cold water into a small bowl, and sprinkle the unflavored powdered gelatin on top. Set aside to allow the gelatin to bloom. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the heavy cream, sugar, vanilla bean and seeds, whisk to combine. Warm the cream mixture over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, and little bubbles start to form around the edge of the pan. This should take about 3-4 minutes. Don't leave the pan unattended or the cream may boil over and burn.
• Remove the hot cream mixture from the heat, and stir the solidified gelatin mixture with a whisk until completely incorporated. Add in the vanilla extract, pinch of kosher salt, and Disaronno, mix well.

  Pour the mixture into 4-5 small jars, ramekins, or cups. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 3 hours, until the panna cotta has set. 
• To serve, spoon a large tablespoon of dulce de leche on top of each cup of panna cotta, then sprinkle with pink salt. If the dulce de leche has thickened up, warm it up in the microwave on low with 1-2 tablespoons of cream or whole milk, and whisk to smooth it out.

Notes

Easy Homemade Dulce de Leche: 

Place a 14 oz. can of Sweetened Condensed Milk (label removed) in a large pot. Fill the pot with room temperature water, that covers the can by about 3 inches. Bring the pot up to a boil over high heat, then reduce to an even simmer for about 3 1/2 hours for a thick, dark caramel. Check the water level every 1/2 hour, and add more water if necessary to keep the can submerged.

Carefully remove the hot can with tongs, and allow to cool COMPLETELY (this is important). Open the can and spoon out the mixture into a bowl, and add 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract, and 1/4 tsp kosher salt, whisk well to combine.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

The post Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Dulce de Leche and Pink Salt appeared first on Lion's Bread.

Smooth, creamy, and rich white chocolate mousse that is super simple – topped with slowly roasted jammy strawberries 

Hey hey! Ok, my name is LeAnne, and I have an addiction to roasted strawberries! So we are in peak strawberry season right now, which means that the farmer’s market berries are mind-bending-ly sweet and delicious, and the supermarket strawberries aren’t as terrible as they usually are. Oh yeah, they’re also on sale in a BOGO way, which helps, hehe.

My love for strawberries and cream dates back to when I was a kid and loved the kind of melty vanilla ice cream topped with macerated berries. It just screamed warm summer evenings, after a whole day in the pool, and my Dad on the grill. My friends over at Valrhona Chocolate sent me some incredibly rich white chocolate to try, and I knew immediately that a strawberry/white chocolate love connection had to happen.

This is probably the easiest White Chocolate Mousse recipe you will ever make! It is so smooth and creamy, rich and light at the same time…insert heart-eye emoji! There are only 4 ingredients, and none of them are eggs, so don’t worry, I’m not going to ask you to temper any eggs here. I just melt the white chocolate and some of the cream together, then set it aside. Then I beat the remaining cream to make it light and fluffy. Once the white chocolate mixture has come to room temperature, I gently fold in the whipped cream, pour into individual serving dishes, then chill for about 3 hours.

Ok, back to the roasted strawberries – Roasting [anything] brings out the natural sweetness and lends a bit of caramelization to the flavor profile, and it is incredible! I mix the strawberries with a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar then roast them in a pretty hot oven for about 25 minutes. The whole house ends up smelling like sweet strawberry jam, and you may tempted to try the berries right when they come out because the aroma is intoxicating, but don’t do it…they’re hot as lava!!

What are you all making with your strawberries? I REALLY think you should add this White Chocolate Mousse with Roasted Strawberries to the menu, comment below to let me know what you think!

Happy Friday!! xoxo – L

Love this White Chocolate Mouse?? Then you should check out:

Chocolate Creme Cups

Fresh Strawberry Mascarpone Mousse

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Easy White Chocolate Mousse with Roasted Strawberries

Smooth, creamy, and rich white chocolate mousse that is super simple - topped with slowly roasted jammy strawberries 

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 2 hours hours

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 cup good quality white chocolate, like Valrhona chopped
• 1 cup plus 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream chilled
• 1 small pinch of kosher salt
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Roasted Strawberries

• 2 lbs. fresh strawberries, washed, tops trimmed off, and halved
• 3 T brown sugar

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400 degree F.
• Place chopped white chocolate and 1/2 c of the heavy whipping cream in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir constantly until the chocolate melts and totally combined. Set aside to cool for about 20 minutes.
• Place the trimmed, halved strawberries on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with the brown sugar, and mix gently with your hands. Roast in the oven for about 30-35 minutes or until the berries are jammy, fragrant, and slightly caramelized. Scoop the berries into a bowl to cool in the fridge until you're ready to serve.
• With a handheld mixer, or the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the remaining 1 cup of cold heavy cream, pinch of salt, and vanilla extract until stiff peaks, about 5-7 minutes. Gently fold the whipped cream into the cooled white chocolate mixture until totally combined. Scoop the soft mousse into individual serving cups (I use ramekins + mason jars), cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 2 days. 
• When you're ready to serve, spoon the roasted strawberries on top, and be prepared to fall in love!

The post Easy White Chocolate Mousse with Roasted Strawberries appeared first on Lion's Bread.

Rich chocolate pudding-like dessert topped with sweetened vanilla cream clouds

Happy early Valentine’s Day!!

Before you roll your eyes and skip ahead to food-porny pics, I want to tell you why Valentine’s Day is easily one of my favorite holidays.

• First, I love LOVE! Growing up my Mom always made Valentine’s super special for us. Everything was heart shaped, she would buy the most delicious chocolates from See’s Candy for us, and write the sweetest cards.
• Second, I am obsessed with hearts. All of my birthday cakes were hearts, even my childhood bed had this great heart-shaped wrought iron headboard.
• Third, it’s not about a Hallmark making tons of dough, or societal pressure to buy stuffed animals + chocolate. It’s about celebrating the LOVE! Is it so terrible to go out of your actual way to make the people in your life feel special and loved? No it is not. It is amazing. Yes you should do that every day, but if you don’t, once a year is a great reminder.

I wanted to make a grown-up version of “Milky,” which is this delicious Israeli snack-pack type treat: chocolate pudding topped with whipped cream. I still have mad love for Milky, but these Chocolate Creme Cups really do it for me.

So, if you want to make someone feel very special, and go the extra mile, make these Chocolate Creme Cups. The rich, dark chocolate pudding is topped with pillowy vanilla infused cream, that’s been whipped just until it holds it’s shape.

Make these, and share a little extra love, we all need it!

The post Chocolate Creme Cups appeared first on Lion's Bread.