When I’m looking for a quick and easy dessert to make at home, I very often turn to a delicious, super smooth panna cotta.
Panna Cotta is a traditional Italian dessert, which literally translates as ‘cooked cream’. Hailing from the region of Piedmont in Italy, it is basically just a simple mixture of sweetened cream and gelatine. But the real beauty of panna cotta lay in their silky texture, and the fact they can be prepared ahead of time and simply unmolded when it’s time to serve. For me, the perfect panna cotta is one that is only just set but can still stand unsupported once out of the mould. It’s a thing of beauty. Usually pearly white with tiny, little flecks of black vanilla seeds running through them, the perfect panna cotta also has to have a slight wobble when you tap the plate, and be silky smooth when your spoon cuts through it. As tastes change and people move away from heavy foods, most chefs now tend to use a percentage of milk in their recipes to make panna cotta into a lighter dessert, which is also healthier.
I love a classic vanilla panna cotta with delicious red fruits such as raspberries, redcurrants and strawberries when they are juicy ripe and in season, but it’s also easy to experiment a little and add so many different flavours. I find that coffee caramel pairs beautifully with a classic vanilla panna cotta, but if you’re looking for a lighter version, this yoghurt panna cotta with blood orange and rosewater, or a lemon & lime combo is just the ticket!
Yogurt Panna Cotta with Blood Orange & Rosewater
Ingredients: serves 6-8
350g Greek-style yoghurt
150ml cream
250ml milk
2 ½ gelatine leaves, softened in cold water for 5 minutes
Blood orange syrup:
200g sugar
½ tsp rosewater syrup
Juice of 3 blood oranges
Whisk the yoghurt, milk and cream in a large bowl until smooth. Bring sugar and orange juice to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stir to dissolve sugar, and then remove from heat. Squeeze excess water from gelatine leaves then add to the orange syrup. Stir to dissolve, then whisk into yoghurt mixture. Pour into moulds and refrigerate until set (at least 4 hours).
To serve, dip moulds briefly in hot water and turn the panna cottas out onto plates. Garnish with blood orange segments spooned on top.
Lemon & Lime Panna Cotta with Redcurrant Granita
Ingredients: serves 4-6
Redcurrant and raspberry granite:
200g raspberries
200g redcurrants
100ml mineral water
125g icing sugar
Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blend to a rough puree. Pass through a sieve. Pour the mixture into a large, shallow container and freeze until rock solid. Break up the mixture with a fork, scraping down the length of the container. Return to the freezer and repeat the process twice more at half hour intervals, then let it freeze a final time. When you’re ready to serve, transfer the container to the fridge for 10 minutes so that the granita can soften up a little.
Panna Cotta:
250ml cream
500ml milk
1 vanilla pod (split lengthways)
125g sugar
4 gelatine Leaves
Grated zest & juice from one lemon
Grated zest & juice from one lime
Place milk, sugar and vanilla pod in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and set aside to infuse. Add the lemon & lime juice and zest.
Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water, remove the vanilla pods from the milk and add the gelatine. Stir well and pass through a sieve. Lightly whisk the cream and gently fold into the milk mixture. Pour into moulds and transfer to the fridge. Leave to set for at least 4 hours.
By Marc Fosh – Michelin Star Chef
