Chocolate Panna Cotta, Car Camp Version
Cream powder, dark chocolate, and gelatin set in a cooler while you eat dinner.
- calories
- 430
- weight
- 3.2 oz
- cal / oz
- 134
- protein
- 5 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 20 min
- water
- 500 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dessert
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Heavy cream powder | 1 cup | stands in for the 5 dl of fresh cream |
|---|---|---|
| Water | 500 ml | reconstitutes the cream powder |
| Sugar | 1/2 cup | |
| Vanilla bean | 1 pod | split; vanilla powder works and packs smaller |
| Dark chocolate | 3.5 oz | chopped at home; higher cocoa means less sweet |
| Gelatin | 3 sheets | or 2 tsp powdered, which needs no soaking water |
| Freeze-dried raspberries | 1/2 cup | fresh if the cooler has room |
Method
- Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water for ten minutes. Powdered gelatin instead: sprinkle it over 3 tbsp of cold water and leave it.
- Whisk the cream powder into 500 ml of water in the pot until no lumps remain. Add the sugar and the split vanilla pod.
- Heat gently, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Do not let it boil over — cream powder foams fast.
- Pull the pot off the stove. Squeeze the water out of the gelatin and stir it in until it disappears.
- Add the chopped chocolate. Let it sit a minute, then stir until the mix is smooth and even.
- Fish out the vanilla pod. Pour into four cups or jars, lid them, and bury them in the cooler for at least two hours.
- Top with raspberries before eating.
Panna cotta is a set custard, so it needs cold time and a fridge is the one thing camp does not have. A cooler does the job if you make it right after dinner and eat it after the fire dies down. Everything else is stove work you were already doing.
Fresh cream is the part that will not travel, so this uses heavy cream powder rebuilt with water. The fat percentage lands close enough that the gelatin still sets and the chocolate still emulsifies. Chop the chocolate at home — in a dark camp, whole squares sink and refuse to melt evenly. Gelatin is an animal product, which is why this is vegetarian and not vegan.
Packing
Cream powder, sugar, and vanilla powder go in one bag. Chocolate and gelatin ride separately. Set it in cups with lids so they stack in the cooler without spilling.
Variations
- Instant espresso powder, a teaspoon, sharpens the chocolate.
- No cooler: pour it into a pot, sink the pot in a cold creek, and weight it with rocks. Slower, but it sets.
- Skip the gelatin and eat it warm as pudding. It will be loose, and that is fine.
https://meny.no/oppskrifter/dessert/sjokolade-panna-cotta