This simple, impressive summer dessert can be made ahead of time and is guaranteed to delight your guests. So why not make these white chocolate and mascarpone panna cotta ice cream with raspberry sauce for your next gathering?
The name’s quite a mouthful, isn’t it? I can assure you though that each mouthful of this panna cotta ice cream is delicious.
Inspiration for this panna cotta ice cream
This was another one of those recipes where I knew what I wanted, but could not find anything quite like it. AT. ALL. It must be something about raspberry ice cream.
I had various sources of inspiration, such as one of my favourite white chocolate and mascarpone tarts, and our individual English breakfast tea panna cotta with fresh raspberries. I then made some of our strawberry yoghurt ice cream with raspberries rather than strawberries and froze them in the mini bundt cake forms. They were so cute! I knew this was the way I wanted to go.
Tips for the perfect panna cotta ice cream
Take your time
The beauty of this recipe is that it benefits from a little resting time to cool down between steps. Set up your white chocolate, warm your milk and dissolve the sugar, then remove the eggs from the fridge. By the time the eggs have reached room temperature, the milk should have cooled sufficiently that the eggs won’t scramble.
When the egg and milk mix has thickened (you can pause between mixing and pouring back in the saucepan) add it to the chocolate and stir. You can then let it cool before adding the cream and mascarpone. Then wait some more before putting it in the refrigerator, and wait some more before pouring it into the moulds. With the exception of melting the chocolate (which does need the warm custard to melt), you can add breaks between the steps as needed.
If you run out of time to let it freeze, or have a freezer disaster (been there!), the mix itself is quite delicious – white chocolate and mascarpone cream. Just serve it with fresh
Cute individual serves or just normal ice cream?
These look so fun and are so easy to serve. To make them, all you need is a set of silicone cupcake pans. You probably already have some for baking or sorting activities with your kids. Don’t use a metal cupcake tin as you will not be able to get the panna cotta ice cream out of the form. If you want to jazz them up, you could even use mini bundt (Gugelhupf) cases.
To remove the ice cream from the forms, remove them from the freezer and wait a couple of minutes before giving them a little squeeze. If they are still sticking, run the form under hot water for a few seconds.
If you don’t want individual servings or don’t have any silicone cupcake forms, you can still freeze this panna cotta ice cream in an ice cream maker.
If you have an ice cream maker: cool the mixture in the refrigerator for at least an hour then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Spoon the frozen ice cream into a plastic freezer-proof container and freeze for at least 2 hours.
If you don’t have an ice cream maker (let’s face it, not everyone has space for one in their cupboards – though if you have a KitchenAid mixer I can highly recommend the freezer bowl attachment!), pour the mixture into a baking tray or flat bowl. Freeze for an hour, then take it out of the freezer and give it a good stir. Return it to the freezer and repeat this process twice or until the ice cream has reached the desired frozen texture.
Raspberry sauce
This recipe uses a little bit of vodka in the raspberry sauce. If you wish to freeze the sauce with the ice cream, this will prevent the sauce from crystalising and becoming raspberry lumps in your ice cream.
If you want a little decadence, use vanilla vodka.
If you would like a non-alcoholic version – definitely better if you are serving children – use water with a little squeeze of lemon juice if you have it.
If you like, you can add the raspberry sauce to the ice cream, or serve it on top. If you are adding it to the ice cream, use a stand or hand blender to puree the sauce and remove any lumps. Pass the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve to remove any seeds before adding the sauce to the ice cream.
The recipe suggests letting the raspberry sauce cool. If you like, you can also serve the individual panna cotta ice creams with warm sauce. A popular dish in Germany is vanilla ice cream with heisse Himbeere, or hot raspberries.
White chocolate and mascarpone panna cotta ice cream with raspberry sauce
Equipment
- small silicone moulds
- tray
- ladle
Ingredients
For the ice cream
- 300 g white chocolate finely chopped
- ¾ cup whole milk
- ½ cup white sugar
- A pinch of salt
- 3 egg yolks
- 100 mL heavy cream
- 250 mL mascarpone
- ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
For the raspberry sauce
- 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vodka
- Fresh raspberries to serve.
Instructions
For the ice cream
- Place the white chocolate in a large bowl and set a fine-mesh sieve over top of the bowl. Set aside.
- Combine the milk, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan and stir over medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
- In a separate heat-proof bowl, whisk the egg yolks for about 2 minutes on high or until they are pale and fluffy. Slowly pour the milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly to prevent curdling then scrape the mixture back into the saucepan.
- Warm the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula until the custard thickens just enough to coat the back of the spatula. It should steam but not boil and will take around 5 minutes.
- Pour the custard through the strainer onto the white chocolate. Stir the mixture for about 2 minutes or until the chocolate has completely melted. Allow the mixture to sit for about 10 minutes.
- Stir in the heavy cream, mascarpone and vanilla bean paste and mix well to combine. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least an hour – it will be quite thick – then pour into silicone cupcake forms. Place the cupcake forms on a tray and freeze for 3 hours or overnight.
For the raspberry sauce
- Defrost the raspberries if using frozen ones. Combine the raspberries, sugar and vodka in a small saucepan. Mash with a fork until juices are released but large chunks still remain. Cook over medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves and the sauce is heated through (about 5 minutes).
- Remove from the heat and allow the sauce to cool to room temperature. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled (at least 45 minutes).
To serve
- Remove the frozen panna cotta from the freezer and free them from their silicone forms and place on a plate. If they are not releasing from their form easily, hold them briefly under hot running water, silicone side up.
- Spoon over some of the raspberry sauce and serve with fresh raspberries.
Notes
Nutrition
Wonderful and simple white chocolate and mascarpone panna cotta ice cream with raspberry sauce
Make some of this white chocolate and mascarpone panna cotta ice cream with raspberry sauce for your next summer gathering. It is:
- simple
- impressive
- easy to serve
- a recipe that allows for breaks for life to get in the way
- no-churn
- make-ahead
- suitable for kids
- delicious
Peter thinks it is his absolute favourite of all the ice creams I have made so far. That is quite a compliment!
It is the perfect recipe for any busy mum to have up their sleeve for summer. Have I convinced you to add it to your arsenal yet?
Check out our other ice cream recipes:
Rooibos ice cream with caramel tea swirl
Basil ice cream with caramelised balsamic strawberries
Aperol and blood orange sorbet
Save the recipe for later:
Update
If you would like a slightly different look, use mini bundt forms (silicone) to freeze the ice cream.
This white chocolate and mascarpone panna cotta ice cream also pairs wonderfully with our caramelised balsamic strawberries, as Peter can attest. He didn’t want to wait for the basil ice cream…
Great summer recipe! I looks a delicious dessert! I need to make for my little guests over 😋😁
They are definitely delicious and surprisingly simple!
You make this whole recipe sound so doable – thank you!
And I’m blown away that I never thought of using our many silicon molds for ice cream before! 🤷♀️
The moulds make it so easy! No more waiting and fighting with the scoop to get the first few out of the tub and then having an almost melted puddle once you get to all your guests. (You can also just buy store-bought vanilla, let it melt and then pour it into moulds are refreeze – though with my recipe you get to use your eggs!)