An easy recipe for coconut panna cotta with a quick raspberry sauce, toasted coconut and mango. This coconut panna cotta is naturally dairy free and requires no added sugar. Perfect sweet tropical dessert.

Ingredients
For this dairy free panna cotta, you'll need:
- Coconut cream - canned coconut cream.
- Coconut condensed milk - sweetened condensed coconut milk provides enough sweetness for this recipe, so that you do not need any additional sugar for the panna cotta. If you need help finding this ingredient, you can find multipacks online, such as these.
- Gelatine - this recipe was made with powdered gelatine, but you could also substitute with gelatine leaves if these are more accessible to you. To make coconut panna cotta with gelatine sheets, you can substitute the 2 teaspoons of powdered gelatine in this recipe for 3 gelatine leaves. These should be soaked to soften and then squeezed to remove the excess liquid.
- Water - a bit of tap water to soften the gelatine.
Making Easy Coconut Panna Cotta
This is a quick recipe to whip up and is naturally dairy free, using various coconut milks instead of dairy products. You'll need a small bowl, small saucepan and a mixing bowl.
Begin by softening your gelatine by sprinkling the powdered gelatine over the water to soak. If you are using gelatine sheets, add the water over top of these in a rimmed dish so that these are covered to allow them to soften.
Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, whisk together the coconut condensed milk with 10oz of your coconut cream. In a small saucepan heat the remaining 4oz coconut cream until simmering.
Add the softened gelatine to the warmed coconut cream and stir to melt. Then add this to the mixing bowl while whisking continuously to incorporate.
Decant into moulds or serving bowls and chill to set.
What to Serve with Coconut Panna Cotta
So, by way of serving suggestions, I recommend the easy raspberry sauce with chopped mango and toasted coconut, included in this recipe.
Raspberry Sauce
To make the raspberry sauce, you'll need:
- Raspberries - fresh work best, but you can also use frozen. If using frozen, these should ideally be defrosted first.
- Sugar - just a bit of sugar to sweeten the raspberries. This can be added to taste and may not be necessary if your berries are well ripened and sweet.
- Orange juice - a little orange juice helps give a bit more tangy bite to the sauce, which works well with the sweet coconut panna cotta. You could replace the orange juice with an orange liquor to add a hint of booze or even just use water. The addition of a liquid will help the raspberries break down with the sugar.
Simply add these ingredients to a small saucepan and cook over a medium heat for about 10-15 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture simmers. Use a spatula to stir and help the raspberries breakdown.
After your sauce has cooked, strain this through a sieve to remove any pulp and seeds. Set this aside to cool before serving with the panna cottas.
Quick Homemade Toasted Coconut
For the toasted coconut, simply spread the sweetened shredded coconut flakes on a lined baking sheet. Place in the centre of a preheated oven and bake to lightly toast. Remove from the oven once the coconut begins to turn light brown, to prevent burning.
As with the sauce, allow this to cool before adding to the panna cotta.
The toasted coconut and raspberry sauce can both be made well in advance of serving (easily up to two days before), if you want to get a head start!
Assembly
When ready to serve, add about a tablespoon of raspberry sauce to the top of the panna cotta, then top with some chopped mango and a sprinkle of toasted coconut.
I like to serve my panna cottas in glasses as opposed to unmoulding from ramekins. If you are unmoulding the panna cotta, you may want to add the raspberry sauce around the base of the plated panna cotta instead of over the top.
FAQs
Coconut panna cotta can be either coconut flavoured panna cotta or a panna cotta made with coconut milk rather than traditional dairy. This particular recipe is for a coconut milk based panna cotta, using coconut cream and coconut condensed milk.
If you would like to make this with traditional dairy milk alternatives, you could use heavy cream and sweetened condensed milk. The amount of gelatine for the recipe to set may vary and I have not yet tested this recipe with dairy ingredients.
Absolutely! Panna cotta is a sweetened cream dessert, set with gelatine. The particular creams used can vary wildly and can include dairy free options such as coconut milk.
This recipe is for a dairy free coconut panna cotta with condensed milk, using sweetened coconut condensed milk to add coconut flavour and sweetness without needing additional sugar.
While this recipe is dairy free, it is not vegan due to the gelatine used. If you substitute traditional gelatine for a vegan alternative, you will be able to make this recipe for coconut panna cotta vegan friendly.
I have not personally tested this recipe with vegan gelatine, so the firmness of the set may vary.
Looking for some more easy panna cotta recipes or no bake desserts? Try these:
Coconut Panna Cotta
Equipment
- large mixing bowl
- Small saucepan
- small bowl
- spatula
Ingredients
Ingredients for Coconut Panna Cotta
- 7 oz sweetened coconut condensed milk
- 14 oz coconut cream
- 2 teaspoon powdered gelatine
- 1½ tablespoon water
Ingredients for Raspberry Sauce and Toppings (optional)
- 3 oz fresh raspberries or frozen, defrosted
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon orange juice
- 1 oz sweetened shredded coconut
- 1 oz fresh mango chopped
Instructions
Instructions for Coconut Panna Cotta
- In a small bowl, sprinkle the powdered gelatine over top the water and set aside to soak for about 5 minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together the coconut condensed milk with 10oz of the coconut cream.
- Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat the remaining 4oz of coconut cream over a medium heat until simmering. Then, remove from the heat and slip the softened gelatine into the warmed cream, stirring until smooth and the gelatine is dissolved.
- Slowly pour the warmed cream into the large mixing bowl of condensed milk mixture whilst whisking continuously, until combined.
- Decant into moulds or serving glasses and chill for at least 4 hours (best overnight) until set.
Instructions for Raspberry Sauce and Toppings
- To make the raspberry sauce, place the raspberries, sugar and orange juice in a small saucepan. Cook this over a medium heat, stirring and mashing the raspberries to help them break down.
- Bring the sauce to a simmer and then strain through a sieve to remove the seeds. Set aside to cool before adding to the panna cotta.
- To toast the shredded coconut, spread the shredded coconut in a single layer on a lined baking tray and place in a preheated 375°F (190C/170C Fan) oven for about 10 minutes, watching until it begins to go golden. Remove and allow to cool.
- To serve the coconut panna cottas, top with about 1 tablespoon of raspberry sauce, some chopped mango and a sprinkle of toasted coconut.
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