Looking for a light dessert that’s high in protein and low in calories? Skim milk panna cotta is your answer, then! I used frozen red berries for a tart-sweet topping that complemented the lightly sweetened vanilla milk really well. It’s basically jello, so it’s super-simple to make.
See those cute little dessert cups? I bought them in Dollar Tree, and they’re 100% re-usable.
If you enjoy this recipe, you may also enjoy my almond milk panna cotta recipe. Almond milk isn’t as high in protein as cow’s milk is, and stone fruits aren’t that great this time of year, but I really loved that almond milk panna cotta.
Skim Milk Panna Cotta
Servings: 8
Calories: 100kcal
Equipment
- 8 little dessert cups (I bought these in Dollar Tree)
- 1 1-quart measuring cup with a spout
Ingredients
Panna Cotta
- 3 cups skim milk
- 1 tablespoon gelatin
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 drop red food coloring (optional)
Red Berry Topping
- ¼ cup water
- 1 teaspoon gelatin
- 1 cup frozen strawberries
- 1 cup frozen raspberries
- 2 tbsp water
- 2 tablespoon sugar
Instructions
- Combine the skim milk, 1 tablespoon of gelatin, and ¼ cup of sugar in a saucepan; whisk together over medium heat until gelatin and sugar have completely dissolved.
- Don't allow the milk to fully boil; remove it from the heat just before it starts to bubble and boil.
- Stir in the vanilla extract and optional food coloring after removing from heat.
- Allow the saucepan full of hot milk to cool a bit before trying to pour it into the dessert cups (boiling liquid will melt these cheapie dollar-store plastic cups!)
Make the berry topping
- Pour ¼ cup cold water into a small bowl and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of gelatin; set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.
- Combine the frozen raspberries, frozen strawberries, 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons of water in a small saucepan. Put the lid on, and crank the heat up to medium-high until the fruit is thawed and the mixture has begun to boil.
- Turn the heat down to low and allow the mixture to simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to mash the fruit up.
- If the mixture begins to boil over, you may want to remove the lid, but you'll want the fruit to be liquid-y in the end — so you may need to add some extra water to compensate for evaporation. You'll want to end up with about 1 cup of fruit when you're done.
- Stir the water/gelatin mixture into the simmering berry sauce and remove from heat.
Assembling the panna cotta cups
- After letting the panna cotta milk mixture cool for 30 minutes, it's probably cool enough to pour into the dessert cups. I like to use a big measuring cup with a spout for this; less chance of spilling it everywhere.
- Immediately put the little cups in the fridge and let them sit and firm up for about 45 minutes while the berry mixture cools on the counter.
- Pour the berry mixture on top of the slighty-firm panna cotta. Again, I like to use a measuring cup with a spout for this because I'm really bad at pouring.
- Put the little cups back in the fridge for about 4 hours.
