Talk about a showstopper, am I right? I saw this recipe on Pinterest YEARS ago and pinned it to my food board - not because I thought I could ever pull something like this off, but because it was so dang beautiful. I was looking through my pins a few weeks ago and re-discovered this. I actually read the recipe this time and since I had a free Sunday I thought why the hell not? It's truly not difficult to make, it's just really time consuming because you have to wait about an hour for each layer to set. So if you have a free afternoon and want to impress everyone, I totally believe in you!
As far as taste, this is a chocolate bomb - it's incredibly rich and decadent. I like pairing fruit and a tart wine with this to cut some of the sweetness, but if you're all about straight up chocolate, this is right up your alley.
Servings: 12-16
Total Time: 4 hours
INGREDIENTS:
5 cups heavy whipping cream
2 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
6 Tbsp cold water
3 7-gram packs of unflavored gelatin (if you get a box of unflavored gelatin in the Jello isle at the grocery store, they normally have 4 of these little 7-gram packets inside)
24 double chocolate Oreos (you can use regular Oreos, just scrape out the filling)
1 stick melted butter
DIRECTIONS:
In a large sauce pan, combine 4 1/2 cups of the heavy whipping cream and the milk. Cook over medium heat until the mixture starts to boil. Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes.
Place white chocolate into a medium size bowl and pour 2 cups of the hot cream mixture over the top of it. Allow this to sit for 1 minute before you combine the milk and chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted into the cream.
Remove milk mixture from heat, cover, but leave on the stove. You'll be re-heating it in about a hour.
In a small, microwave safe bowl, sprinkle one pack of gelatin into 2 Tbsp cold water and mix. Allow mixture to sit for 5 minutes until the gelatin expands and solidifies. Microwave the bowl with gelatin for 30 seconds until it becomes liquid again. Pour liquid gelatin into the bowl of chocolate/cream and mix to incorporate.
Generously spray a bundt pan with cooking spray and pour the chocolate/cream/gelatin mixture into the bottom of the pan. (You can really use any kind of pan as long as its fairly deep - a 9x13 inch casserole dish would work well too!)
Place pan in the refrigerator for 45 minutes or until the first layer has set. I like to use this time to wash my chocolate and gelatin bowls!
Once the first layer has set, you can start on the next layer. Reheat the milk/cream mixture in the pot, stir well since there may be a filmy layer on top after sitting. Bring it to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer.
Repeat steps 2-4, but with the milk chocolate. Gently pour milk chocolate mixture over the set white chocolate layer. Return to the refrigerator for another 45 minutes.
When the milk chocolate layer has set, re-heat the milk/cream mixture like you did before. Add two cups of the hot liquid to the dark chocolate chips and repeat step 2 with the dark chocolate. Discard any leftover milk.
Prepare the last packet of gelatin like you did above and incorporate it into the chocolate/cream mixture.
Carefully pour the dark chocolate mixture on top of the set milk chocolate layer. Place in the refrigerator for another 45 minutes to set.
For the crust, grind up the cookies in a food processor. Mix together the crumbs and butter until combined. When the dark chocolate layer has set, evenly spoon the Oreo mixture over the top. Gently press down the crumbs, but not hard enough to damage the integrity of the panna cotta. Place in the refrigerator, again, for 30 minutes to harden.
In a small saucepan, heat a half cup of heavy cream until it just begins to boil and then remove it from heat. Place semi-sweet chocolate in a bowl and pour the hot cream over it. Stir until the chocolate has melted into the cream. Let sit for 10 minutes.
When you are ready to flip the bundt pan, dip the pan into warm water for 10 seconds to allow the edges to release. (I accidentally left the pan in the water too long and the layers got to warm and started melting together - no bueno - so I would only return to the warm water for another 10 seconds if the panna cotta won't come out of the pan)
Flip the bundt pan onto your serving platter. You may have to shake it a little, but it should release within a few seconds. If not, dip the pan into warm water another 10 seconds and try again.
Drizzle the melted semi-sweet chocolate/cream mixture over the top of your now free panna cotta. Garnish with berries and whipped cream! Store any leftovers in the refrigerator!
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