Vanilla Yoghurt Panna Cotta With Balsamic Thyme Roasted Peaches And Nectarines

Panna Cotta is such a wonderful dessert. I love to serve it up for company because it’s easy to whip up and great for making ahead totally making entertaining easy. It’s an Italian dessert of sweetened cream and in this case a mixture of cream and yoghurt, thickened with a little gelatin and molded in a cup or in any container you would like it in. For ease of serving I love to serve it in glass cups. It’s not only easy for individual servings but perfectly elegant looking and you don’t have to worry about unmolding it onto a plate perfectly.

I chose to do a yoghurt one as my family loves their Greek yoghurt and I love a little tang or acidity added to creamy deserts like this. Although still rich and delicious, the addition of the yoghurt really lightens and brightens it up. I love this recipe and it’s on repeat. It’s a recipe by Smitten kitchen. It’s the perfect base for all the yummy toppings that you can dream up! It has never failed me and is so super easy to make. You can doctor it a bit but using alternative ways to flavour it. I love to use different extracts to help do this. This time I chose to do a basic but always delicious vanilla one. Doesn’t get better than that!

For the topping I chose to use peaches and nectarines. What’s yummier than peaches and cream of any sort? A combination that you can never go wrong with and always a hit. I had fresh thyme leftover from another recipe an thought it would be perfect with the peaches and nectarines, giving them a hint of floral and a slight woodsy flavouring. It brings out the sweet flowery essence of the fruit and is just a great pairing without being over powering.

Any stone fruit would work in this recipe and any fruit for that matter. Roasting it brings out the sweetness and adding fruit to the Panna Cotta adds a bright layer of flavour and something syrupy to swirl into your Panna Cotta.

We totally love this dessert and love how you can make the Panna Cotta ahead making it ideal for entertaining. It’s simple to make and worth giving a try. Hope you enjoy it!

Recipe

Ingredients

For the Panna Cotta

• 4 tablespoons (60 ml) water
• 2½ teaspoons unflavoured gelatin
• 2 cups plain whole-milk Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups (475 ml) whole milk or heavy cream divided
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about ½ lemon)

For the roasted peaches and nectarines

• 4 peaches (I used 2 peaches and 2 nectarines but any stone fruit would work)
• ½ cup balsamic vinegar (I used white balsamic but you can use either or)
• 1-2 tablespoons honey plus more to taste
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of pepper
• 2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme plus more for garnish

Directions

For the Panna Cotta

1. Place water in a small bowl and stir in gelatin and set aside until the gelatin softens, about 15 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, whisk all of yogurt, vanilla extract and 1 cup of milk or cream.
3. In a small saucepan, bring remaining milk or cream and sugar to a low simmer.
4. Stir in water-gelatin mixture (it will dissolve immediately) and remove from heat.
5. Whisk this mixture into the yogurt mixture, then stir in lemon juice at the end.
6. Pour mixture into small cups or pan and chill in fridge for at least 2 hours for small cups and up to 8 for a large pan. It’s best to do this the night before you need it for best outcome.

For the roasted peaches and nectarines

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Cut each peach in half around the pit then pull apart from the pit and then cut each half in half. Place peach quarters on a baking dish.
3. Mix balsamic vinegar with honey and drizzle over the peaches.
4. Season with salt and pepper, place over them the sports of thyme and place in the oven and roast 30 minutes until caramelised and tender.
5. Once done remove and allow them to cool and then serve over the Panna Cotta along with a drizzle of the pan juices. They are also fabulous over ice cream.

Get fancy

To get the layered angled affect I used a square baking pan (the one I use for brownies) to stabilise my angled positioned glasses. I lined the baking pan with a dish cloth (to add some bulk between glasses for stability) and tipped each glass against each corner of pan at roughly the same angle. I then placed an inverted smaller glass in the middle of the pan to stabilised the other cups. Pour the mixture carefully into each tipped glass and then carefully transfer the entire baking dish into the refrigerator for the Panna Cotta to set on an angle in the cups.