The truth about Syllabubs, Possets, Fools & Panna Cottas

I was convinced that a syllabub, a posset, a fool and a panna cotta are the same thing, but called something slightly different so that restaurants can put 4 different things on the menu, but it all looks the same when served.

My homemade rhubarb fool/posset/syllabub/panna cotta

Anyway, instead of wondering I've got my google fingers out and have taken a look at the wikipedia definition, so here are the 'official' definitions.

Syllabub "an English sweet dish....made of milk or cream, curdled by wine/cider or other acid, and often sweetened and flavoured" Wikipedia definition of Syllabub

Posset "was a British hot drink of milk curdled with wine or ale" hang on, haven't I just typed that? "The word "posset" is mostly used nowadays for a cold set dessert loosely based on the drink, containing cream and lemon, similar to syllabub." Wikipedia definition of Posset

Fool "an English dessert...folding pureed stewed fruit into sweet custard.  Modern fool recipes often skip the tradidional custard and use whipped cream" Wikipedia definition of Fruit Fool

Panna Cotta "is an Italian dessert made by simmering together cream, milk and sugar, mixing this with gelatin, and letting it cool until set" Wikipedia definition of Panna Cotta

As you can see, I was essentially right(ish).

So next time you're in a restaurant pondering over the syllabub, posset, fool and panna cotta - just be aware that they're all interchangeable and amount to the same thing.