Vanilla Panna Cotta

Panna cotta is one of those all-time classic greats - the Italian pudding that is elegant in its simplicity, yet a perfect accompaniment to a fruit compote or sauce.   Strangely, on a table positively groaning with multifarious puddings, this one is extremely popular with the musicians and singers at Stour!  I made this four times over the two weekends of the Festival, and they disappeared every time.   I’ve used gelatine leaves in the recipe, as they give a quicker set and better texture than powder, plus fresh Kent cherries in a compote.   Not being great at turning things out of moulds, I did mine in little glass ramekin dishes instead. 

Vanilla Panna Cotta

Vanilla Panna Cotta

Panna Cotta:

4 leaves of gelatine

12 floz/350ml double cream

12 floz/350ml milk (full fat or semi-skimmed)

1 ½ oz/35g caster sugar

1 pod of vanilla

Cherry Compote:

½ lb/220g fresh cherries (preferably) with some extra to decorate

small amount of sugar and water

generous dash of some kind of fruit liqueur

6-8 ramekin dishes, depending on size

First, soak the gelatine in cold water until it goes soft.    In a large pan, mix together the cream, milk and sugar.  Break open the vanilla pod and scrape out all the little seeds with the point of a knife.   Add the seeds to the mixture, plus the pod.  Bring the temperature up to a gentle simmer, stirring to stop the milk sticking to the bottom of the pan.   Remove the pod.

Squeeze out the gelatine leaves and add them to the pan, then take the pan off the heat and stir until the gelatine has dissolved, as you don’t want stringy bits.   Pour into a jug, and then into the ramekins.  Leave a little room at the top for the cherries.   Chill until set – approx 2 hours.

Stone the cherries and put them into a pan with a little water, sugar to taste, and Framboise or cherry liqueur.  Simmer until the cherries release their delicious dark juice.   Allow the cherries to cool before serving. 

Serve with the cherry compote and the cracked black pepper tuiles (elsewhere on the blog).   If you make double the amount of cherries, you can put them into the Black Forest Trifle later!