VANILLA BEAN AND YOGURT PANNA COTTA WITH CHERRY JELLY

The other day I saw these beautiful cherries and I just couldn’t resist buying them, and when I brought them home, I pondered on what to make with these luscious beauties.

I decided to go with a classic Panna Cotta that my family absolutely adores! This time I switched the flavours up a bit. I used the Greek yoghurt I had in the fridge, and used the cherries to make a cherry jelly to top up the Panna Cotta, bit away from the usual pairing of raspberries. The rich creaminess of Panna Cotta is well balanced with the fruitiness of the cherry jelly, giving the dish a well-rounded and delicious flavour.

Panna Cotta literally translates to “cooked cream”, and it’s made by thickening sweetened cream with gelatin, then moulded. In this case, the yoghurt I used added some fresh tanginess to the dessert, while still keeping it indulgent and creamy.

I could gush about Panna Cotta all day, and for good reason - it’s so simple to make and it is one of those desserts that I can prepare in advance for dinner parties, leaving me with less things to make on the day. If you don’t have small moulds on hand, you can easily set it in glasses too, which cuts the hassle of unmoulding.

This is a recipe you certainly need to try as it proves to be a delight for all the family members. I loveeed the delicate cherry jelly on top but honestly, you can swap it for any small fruit or berry you want! Let me know what you come up with. Please do write the feedback and post comments in the comments section below the recipe. It means the whole world to me to know someone out there is trying out my recipes. You can tag me on my Instagram page: instagram.com/simranskitchenoman/

PREP TIME: 20 minutes COOKING TIME: 15 minutes

PASSIVE TIME: 8-12 hours or overnight SERVES: 8

INGREDIENTS

For Cherry Jelly:

150g fresh cherries
2 gelatin sheets
120ml water
2 tbsp caster sugar

For Panna Cotta:

500 ml cooking cream
5 tbsp caster sugar
200g full fat yogurt/ Greek yogurt
4 gelatin sheets
1 vanilla bean

Equipment Needed:

8 Panna Cotta moulds, 125 ml capacity each

METHOD

Making Cherry Jelly:

Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water for 5 minutes.
Wash and cut the cherries in half, remove the seeds and stalks.
Pour water in a small saucepan, add sugar and halved cherries, simmer for 1-2 minutes until sugar is dissolved.
Strain water from the cherries in a heat proof bowl. Reserve the cherries for later use. Place the bowl of cherry water over double boiler.
Squeeze out the water from gelatin sheets, drop them in the bowl of cherry water, stir for few seconds until its completely dissolved. Remove bowl from double boiler and transfer in a small jug.
Take moulds and drop 3-4 cherries at the bottom of each mould. Pour the prepared cherry infused jelly water in each mould just to cover the cherries. Refrigerate for an hour to set.

Making Panna Cotta:

To make Panna Cotta, soak gelatin sheets in cold water for 5 minutes.
In a saucepan, pour the cream. Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise, scrape the beans with a knife and add it to the cream. Add sugar to the cream as well. Heat the cream, vanilla beans and sugar, and stir to dissolve, (do not boil the cream).
Squeeze excess water from gelatin sheets and add to the cream. Mix for a minute, until dissolved. Remove from heat and strain.
Whisk yogurt and mix it with cream. Leave to cool completely. Transfer to a pouring jug and pour over the set jelly. Place them in the refrigerator to set overnight.
Dip the set Panna Cotta moulds in hot water for 3 seconds, run a knife around the side to release Panna Cotta from the moulds. Carefully tip it on the serving plates. Serve as is or with a fruit coulis.

COOK'S NOTES:

I used cherries for making the cherry jelly but you can use any other fruit of your choice.
If you do not have gelatin sheets you can use gelatin powder as well. Or if you are a pure vegetarian, use agar-agar powder instead to set the jelly and Panna Cotta.
Do not boil the cream as the fats from the cream will separate from milk and your Panna Cotta will not have a smooth creamy texture.