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Panna cotta with cranberries is probably one of my easy go to dessert recipes whenever I’m not feeling like something too complicated. It’s perfect for dinner parties like Christmas or Thanksgiving and super easy to make!
Panna cotta with cranberries
I have a thing for pannacotta…. ever since I tasted the first (the first homemade version that is) panna cotta I am sort of addicted. It’s not that I make this dessert every week or even every month for that matter, but no matter what flavor I make; I love it every single time… From the lemon buttermilk panna cotta, to the cinnamon apple panna cotta, to this seasonal variety. They’re all good… Not so good for the waistline though; lots of cream in there… 🙂
While we initially wanted to make Italian ice cream for dessert, we figured a little lighter than that would be advisable. It’s weird really that most Christmas dishes are rather heavy on the stomach; we had to really make adjustments from our original menu to the current one to make sure that we didn’t have to roll every one out the door.
Christmas dinner planning
I don’t know about you but I don’t particularly like the overly full feeling that you get after eating too much. I do – in fact – hate that feeling and while I am the only one to blame for that feeling when it happens to me, I would like to think that I try to avoid it as much as possible. So we made a few adjustments to the final menu; some things were cancelled, other things were added. No potatoes at the main course; the cream leek tart will be more then enough even without potatoes.
And a nice fresh salad to go with the ham and the tart and then for dessert a panna cotta with cranberries. While the panna cotta is arguably not exactly leaner then the Italian ice cream when you count it in calories; it does feel lighter due to the smaller portion and the fact that I will be changing the recipe that I followed to the panna cotta with cranberries.
Replace with buttermilk
Initially I made this panna cotta with cranberries using only heavy cream. And that – as the name heavy would imply – already made it creamier and heavier. So I went with a mix of the heavy cream and buttermilk. Replacing it with yogurt is also a good option and keep the flavors delicious, fresh and not so heavy.
Snow!
As you can see from the photos above we finally had some serious snow. Right before Christmas and of course not a white Christmas as it was all gone by that time, but it was still nice to have such a lovely layer of snow for once. The world always looks so pretty covered in white!
Cranberry pannacotta
Ingredients
- 50 gr white caster sugar
- 100 gr fresh cranberries
- 1 vanilla bean
- 200 ml heavy cream
- 100 g sugar
- 175 ml buttermilk or use extra yogurt
- 3 sheets gelatine
- 100 ml yogurt
Equipment
- panna cotta molds
How to make the cranberry panna cotta
- In a saucepan heat 50 gr of caster sugar with 5 tbsp of water en add, once the sugar is melted, the cranberries. Simmer on low for about 3 minutes.
- Cut the vanilla bean open length wise. Heat the cream in a saucepan and add the vanilla bean and the 100 g of sugar. Leave to simmer but not really boil for 5 minutes en make sure all sugar is dissolved. Remove the vanilla bean from the cream and scrape the marrow from the vanilla with a sharp knife and add the marrow to the cream.
- Soak the gelatine leaves for about 5 minutes in cold water. Squeeze them and add to the hot cream. Stir until dissolved. Leave to cool a bit and then add the buttermilk and the yogurt. Divide the mixture over the panna cotta molds and spoon 1 teaspoon of the cranberries into each form.
- Put into the fridge for at least 3-4 hours. To remove the panna cotta from the molds, shortly keep them under a hot tab and put them on plates. Serve with the rest of the cranberries.
Nutrition Information per portion:
Disclaimer:
The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.
