Panna Cotta with Leftover Whipped Cream and Leftover Buttermilk

Leftover perishables are an unfortunate part of baking. Even with diligent foresight and planning, everyone ends up throwing out spoiled food once in awhile. Case and point? Buttermilk. Rarely does a recipe call for a full quart, which where I live, is the only size available at the grocery store. Generally I use buttermilk for biscuits or muffins, which rarely call for even a full cup. A full quart? That's over 4 cups. I've never made anything with that much buttermilk! Another thing that's hard to use up is whipped cream. Think about the holidays. Do you make whipped cream to serve with pie? Maybe you stick a little in a fruit salad or use some on breakfast waffles, but have you ever actually finished it? At the end of my family's holidays, there is always a little silver bowl of whipped cream covered with saran wrap that gets forgotten in the back of the fridge. A week later, it gets thrown away.

While my parents were here, I made a Coconut Cream Pie with whipped cream. The whipped cream was a bit of a fiasco. I couldn't figure out why my whipping cream hadn't started to form peaks after 10 minutes of whipping. With a quick pour, my amazing boyfriend realized that it was because my whipping cream was improperly labeled. It was nowhere near heavy cream. It was half and half at best, but maybe even whole milk. The lady at the grocery store was a bit confused when C showed up and explained that our cream wasn't cream. Much to my relief, he came home with the last two cartons of cream and the first one I tried actually whipped!

Once the cream was whipped and the pie was topped, there was a whole tupperware full of leftover whipped cream. Just yesterday, I threw out the leftovers. But! I did find a way to use some of the whipped cream before it went bad. I made a Panna Cotta-esque dessert adapted from Elements cookbook.

Objective
Make buttermilk panna cotta to use up buttermilk and whipped cream.

Materials
1 packet gelatin (or about 2 1/4 tsp)
2 1/2 tbsp. cold water
1/3 cup cream, half and half, milk or non-dairy milk
1/3-1/2 cup sugar (to taste)
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste
2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup leftover whipped cream
Fruit for garnish

Methods
1. Place 2 1/2 tbsp. cold water in a shallow bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin in an even layer over the water and let sit until the gelatin softens (about 15 minutes). Prepare and ice bath in a large bowl and set aside.
2. In a saucepan that holds at least 1 1/2 qt., heat cream, sugar, and vanilla paste until the sugar dissolves. Do not boil. Stir in the softened gelatin. Move to the ice bath, and stir occasionally until the mixture cools to room temperature.
3. Stir the buttermilk into the cooled mixture. Then, fold in or gently whisk in the whipped cream. This should end up being about four cups in volume.
4. Pour the mixture into molds such as a muffin pan (12 regular muffin cups or 6 jumbo muffin cups) or divide between 6-8 1-cup dishes (such as prep bowls or jars). Chill until solidified, between 4 and 6 hours. Can be prepared a day in advance.
5. To serve, slide a knife between the panna cotta and dish, tugging gently toward the center to loosen the bottom. Flip onto a plate and serve with fresh fruit. If you used prep bowls or jars, you could garnish them and serve them in the vessel. Serves 6-12 depending on how large you make your portions.

Results
This is rich and well-flavored. The texture is a bit softer than I'd expected (but I had a little trouble with my gelatin). Great with tart passionfruit and blackberries.

Discussion and Future Directions
I was very skeptical of the flavor, fearing that the panna cotta would be sour like buttermilk. Instead, it's rich, creamy, and deeply flavored. The vanilla is prominent, though there is a slight tang. The texture is soft, which made it a little less beautiful on the plate. I used cream (to try to use it up), but next time, I'd use something less rich. I just read a recipe where someone used coconut milk. That sounds delicious (and I happen to have some leftover coconut milk in my fridge from the coconut cream pie)! My version is fairly sweet and I think it would be equally delicious with less sugar. Be sure to adjust the mixture to suit your taste, but keep in mind that if your whipped cream is sweetened, you'll add more sugar at the end. Also, vanilla paste is quite sweet. You can use a vanilla bean instead or stir vanilla extract into the mixture once it's cooled.

If you make a sweet panna cotta, I would suggest serving it with tart fruit such as passion fruit, raspberries, or blackberries. If you reduce the sugar, I would suggest something sweet like strawberries or cherries. You could even add chocolate or agave drizzle. The options are endless!

Supplementary Materials