Panna Cotta with Cherry Compote
Panna cotta - an icon of a dessert! A simple mix of milk, cream and vanilla resulting in the most luxuriously creamy pudding. Served with a homemade cherry compote!
Servings: 400 ml (approx) panna cotta – which you can split between 2x 200ml moulds or 4x 100ml moulds. Makes enough cherry compote to enjoy with other things!
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).
Notes
NB: the cherry compote can be stored in the fridge for a good couple of weeks - excellent in desserts, on oats, on toast etc etc.
Originally published 30th December 2023, updated on 18th March 2026.
