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Carrot Cake Panna Cotta is one of my favorite desserts! So creamy and delicious. I’m aware it isn’t a traditional recipe but after years of playing around with my classic panna cotta recipe, I have been playing around with variations and I have to say, that this might be my favorite! The flavors of the carrot come through beautifully, the sweetness and slight sharp aftertaste, am I crazy or do you know what I am talking about? Also, we all know that the cream cheese frosting is not arguably the best part of the cake. Since I wasn’t about to frost a panna cotta, I added it to the mix and it was perfection.
Why You’ll Love Carrot Cake Panna Cotta
If you are a carrot cake fan, trust me on this one! The elements, flavors and textures come through. I am well aware that it isn’t going to be exact but it comes as close as a dessert that isn’t the real deal can! The bourbon butterscotch OMG, it is a vibe all on its own. Completely elevates this recipe and adds complexity because of the brown butter.
Substitutions
Once you have the liquid ratios to gelatin down, you can play around with what you use! However, I wouldn’t mess around with the heavy cream because it makes it creamy. If you don’t have a juicer, you can use store bought carrot juice but make sure it isn’t sweetened. You can also substitute mascarpone for cream cheese. In the butterscotch, you can use regular butter instead of brown butter and any liquor you want in place of bourbon! Another sub would be corn syrup instead of agave syrup.
Recipe Tip
- When whisking in the gelatin, don’t touch the bottom of your pot, so you doing scrape.
- Slightly tap the top of the container when you want to unmold and smack it a few times onto the plate and let it do its thing.
- Make sure the cream cheese is room temperature so there is no lumps when you whisk in the liquid.
Carrot Cake Panna Cotta
Ingredients
- 3 cups heavy cream
- 1 1/2 cup carrot juice, fresh squeezed lol
- 2 gelatin envelopes, 5 tsp
- 3/4 cup condensed milk
- 1 orange, zest
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1-2 cinnamon stick or 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 2 tbsp sour cream
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- Pinch of salt
- Pecans to taste
Bourbon Butterscotch
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2/3 cup heavy cream
- 5 tbsp brown butter
- 3/4 oz bourbon
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp agave syrup
Directions
- Add the carrot juice to a bowl & sprinkle the gelatin over it to bloom for 10 minutes
- Add the cream, vanilla, condensed milk, salt, sugar, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon sticks and orange zest to a pot. Heat up without boiling
- Once hot, carefully whisk in the gelatin until fully dissolved. Let it sit to cool for about 20 minutes
- In a large bowl add the cream cheese, strain in 1/3 cup of the carrot cream mixture. Whisk until incorporated. Strain in the cream a bit at a time so you don’t get lumps
- Divide into 8 single serve cups (I used disposable)
- Let them sit in the fridge for 6 hrs to overnight to set
- Add the brown butter, sugar, cream, agave, cinnamon and salt to a saucepan and mix. Bring to a simmer and let it simmer on low for 12 min or so. Make sure no graininess is left. Turn heat off, add bourbon and whisk to burn alcohol off 1-2 minutes
- Unmold the panna cotta and top with the butterscotch and toasted pecans
Video
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
