Panna Cotta with Cherry Compote
Since I’m on a bit of a dessert thing at the moment, here is another delightful (and easy to make!) recipe and one of my all time favourite desserts: panna cotta.
Essentially panna cotta translates to cooked cream – accurately describing the process of how this comes together. Milk and cream are heated with vanilla and then left to steep briefly, before adding sugar and gelatin. The trick is not adding too much gelatin so as to avoid a firmer, jelly-like consistency. Rather you’re aiming for a wobbly but set consistency, with a creamy texture visible on the spoon and evident on the palate.
I often like to make panna cotta in mini bundt tins, that hold approximately 200ml, or I also recently got put onto using a classic coup which is a genius idea. The below makes the perfect amount for 2x 200ml panna cotta, however you can also use smaller vessels and split to 4 serves. Or, you can set in a tupperware and scoop to serve (as pictured here), which is very popular at the moment. Just make sure you use a small enough tupperware so you get some depth in the panna cotta, or alternatively you can scale this recipe.
Panna Cotta with Cherry Compote
Ingredients
Cherry compote
- 1 punnet of cherries pitted – approx 500g
- 50 g caster sugar
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 1 tbsp water
Panna cotta
- 200 ml whole milk
- 200 ml cream
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste – or 1 vanilla bean pod if you want to be extra luxe
- 50 g caster sugar
- 1 x 5g gelatin leaf I use these ones
Instructions
For the cherry compote
- Place the cherries in a heavy pan and sprinkle over the sugar and splash of water (2 tbsp)
- Over a low-medium heat, cook for 12-15 minutes until the cherries have released their juices, have broken down ever so slightly (yet remain intact) and you have a jammy, loose sauce.
- Make a corn starch slurry by combining the corn starch and water, then quickly pour into the cherries mixing constantly for a moment until combined – you’ll find the compote thickens slightly here.
- Transfer to a bowl or sterilised jar and allow to cool.
For the panna cotta
- Lightly oil your moulds with a neutral oil – this will prevent the panna cotta from sticking to the mould later.
- Heat milk, cream and vanilla until just starting to boil – turn off the heat, cover and let it steep for 5 min.
- Add the sugar and return to low heat, stirring until dissolved (around 3 min). While you’re doing that, soak the gelatin leaf in cold water to allow it to bloom – this will prevent the panna cotta from being grainy!
- Squeeze out excess water from the gelatin leaf then add directly to the hot milk mixture – stir until dissolved over a low heat.
- An optional step is to strain the liquid into a bowl set over a larger bowl filled with iced water, stirring frequently over 15 minutes until it cools and thickens slightly. This should help prevent the vanilla from sinking to the bottom.
- Pour into your desired vessels and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight if making two large ones, or 4 hours if making smaller ones.
- To serve, use a knife to gently and carefully pull the panna cotta away from the mould and break any air seal, letting it drop directly onto a plate.
- If you are doing a scooped serve, warm a large spoon in hot water first and carefully scoop and plop the panna cotta down onto a plate, with the spoon side facing up. Please note that this panna cotta recipe is very jiggly and less on the firm jelly side, so it can be a bit tricky to keep it in one scooped piece.
- Spoon over a couple of tablespoons of the cherry compote (I serve this chilled but you could also heat the compote if you like).
