Well, you knew it had to happen after the recipe for the Chai Tea Latte Panna Cotta, right?
Thanksgiving flew by and #allthingspumpkinspice left the building to make way for my favorite flavor of all time – Peppermint Bark! I absolutely love the Christmas season, but I’ve never been much for eggnog. I’m all about sugar cookies, candy canes and peppermint bark.
I’m really more partial to the peppermint side than the chocolate side. Probably stems from growing up allergic to chocolate, ya think? That’s why Baskin-Robbins Peppermint ice cream, Häagen-Dazs® Peppermint Bark Ice Cream and Godiva’s Candy Cane Truffles are like my kryptonite. PS the candy cane truffles and peppermint bark ice cream are limited and only available at select stores!
I’m going to keep the directions short for this recipe, if you want to know more about panna cotta, what it is and how best to make it, I suggest going to my Chai Tea Latte Panna Cotta Recipe that includes a step-by-step along with photos.
One thing to note, this is a layered panna cotta and there are slight differences between the ratios of gelatin to mixture between the chocolate layer and the peppermint layer. Not only is the peppermint layer half because it is meant to be the smaller layer, but it has more gelatin since it doesn’t contain a thicker ingredient like melted chocolate.
Having two flavors allowed me to provide several options for my guests.
I knew most loved dark chocolate, so that became my larger layer. I used two different sized dishes to allow my guests who wanted to keep things less indulgent still able to enjoy this yummy treat. When I added the peppermint layer, some were smaller layers than others.
Next, I made one with the peppermint panna cotta as the larger layer. This one I topped with a layer of hot fudge. It allowed me to add just enough of a layer of chocolate, for me. If you don’t have the time to make a layered panna cotta, then I would choose this easier option just remember to double or tripe the recipe for the peppermint panna cotta below.
Lastly, I served the peppermint bark panna cotta with whipped cream, crushed candy canes and chopped peppermint bark. All on the side. My guests could go all out – or not. What do you think most of them did? HAHAHA
I hope you enjoy this festive treat! It is really quite yummy! The empty dishes and licked clean spoons are the perfect foodie dream!
Peppermint Bark Panna Cotta
Ingredients
Dark Chocolate Panna Cotta
- 1½ cup whole milk
- 3 tsp unflavored gelatin
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1½ cup heavy cream
- 8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped I used 72%
Peppermint Panna Cotta
- ¾ cup whole milk
- 2 tsp unflavored gelatin
- 2½ tsp sugar
- 1 tsp peppermint extract
- ¾ cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Into a medium saucepan, add 1 cup of milk, sprinkle the gelatin over the top and allow it to "grow" for 10 minutes. DO NOT STIR. It should look wrinkly on the top at the end.
- Place gelatin milk on the stovetop, turn the heat to low and slowly add the sugar, stir until both gelatin and sugar are dissolved. You just want to warm it enough to dissolve everything. DO NOT OVERHEAT! Set aside.
- In a separate medium saucepan at medium-low heat, bring remaining milk to a slight boil, add in the chopped chocolate and stir until melted. Remove from heat.
- Add the heavy cream, vanilla extract and the gelatin mixture to the chocolate mixture. Stir until blended.
- Pour the panna cotta mixture into your dishes and chill for 3-4 hours or overnight if adding second layer.
Peppermint Panna Cotta
- Repeat process for the peppermint layer. Remember, this is essentially half the recipe with slight variations, so change accordingly (grow in all the milk) Pour Peppermint layer over chocolate layer and chill a minimum of two hours.
Garnish
- I added a dollop of whipped cream and sprinkled each with crushed candy canes and chopped peppermint bark.
- As mentioned, for my peppermint only panna cotta, I used a layer of hot fudge for my chocolate layer.
Notes
Coming soon….peppermint bark meringue kisses!
This looks amazing!
Thanks! It was fun watching everyone try to scrape the last bits out of their dishes!