Vanilla Panna Cotta with Yuzu-Lemon Thyme Gelée

Thanks to this blog, I now have more than a dozen cups of panna cotta in my fridge. Depending on how you look at it, this is either a good or a bad thing. Typically, a plethora of dessert makes me happy. Unfortunately, the test batches in the refrigerator range from “great!” to “um, what is this, cheese?”

I had never made panna cotta before, but I tasted a version at Coco 500 that inspired me and so decided to give it a shot. All the recipes I looked at said “so easy!” And most followed a similar list of ingredients: cream, sugar, vanilla, gelatin. I took a confident bite of my first try. And I gotta say, I’m not a big fan of the all-cream version. It gives you that thick, greasy feeling on your tongue. Also, I felt that many of the recipes used too much gelatin, resulting in a rubbery texture.

So, after three test batches, I can say with confidence that the other recipes are right – panna cotta is “so easy!” – but only if you have the right recipe to begin with.

To contrast the rich and creamy panna cotta, I made a tangy yuzu-lemon thyme gelée that floats on top (I think Coco 500 used mango puree). I also cut the cream a bit with milk and yogurt, which I think results in a much smoother texture. I like the combination of the creamy vanilla spiked with a shot of citrus and herb.

Before getting to the recipe, about the yuzu. Yuzu is one of those trendy ingredients that I kept seeing on menus (hello pork belly!), but not at the store. Finally I came across some at the Japanese shop in my neighborhood – I forked over $17 (!) for a small bottle of juice and took it home.

To me, yuzu juice tastes like a cross between a lemon and a clementine. I’m not entirely convinced it’s worth its price (why not combine a little lemon and clementine or tangerine juice?) but it is good in this recipe. That said, if you don’t have yuzu juice, you could easily adapt this recipe to use some other combination of citrus.

Now that I’ve tried yuzu juice, I’m curious about yuzu paste (made from yuzu rind, chilis and salt) and yuzu powder (dried, ground yuzu rind). Anyone familiar with these products?

Vanilla Panna Cotta with Yuzu-Lemon Thyme Gelée
- serves 4 -

For the panna cotta:

1 ½ c heavy cream
½ c milk
½ c plain yogurt (I used non-fat)
1 ½ t gelatin powder
4 T cold water
1 t vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean
1/3 c sugar

For the gelée:

¼ c sugar
2 T water
¼ c + 1 T yuzu juice
½ t gelatin powder
1 T cold water
About 1 t fresh lemon-thyme on stems

To make the panna cotta:

Heat cream, milk and sugar over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Once sugar is dissolved, turn off heat and add vanilla extract or seeds scraped from vanilla bean (if use vanilla bean, let steep 30 minutes; if using extract, proceed to next step).

Sprinkle gelatin over the 4 tablespoons water in a medium size bowl and let sit 5-10 minutes. Then pour warm cream mixture over gelatin and stir until completely dissolved. Cool to room temperature or at least tepid. Stir in yogurt. Pour into four glasses and refrigerate 2 hours or so, or until firm.

To make the gelée:

Heat ¼ cup sugar and 2 tablespoons water in a small saucepan until sugar is dissolved and you have a simple syrup. Turn off the heat and add lemon-thyme sprigs. Let steep 15 minutes and then remove lemon-thyme sprigs. Sprinkle gelatin over 1 tablespoon cold water in a small bowl. Let sit 5-10 minutes. Re-heat simple syrup and then whisk in gelatin. Turn off heat, add yuzu juice. To speed things up, cool mixture in an ice bath, stirring until cool. If you like, add some fresh lemon-thyme leaves to the gelatin mixture.

To assemble:

Spoon equal amounts of the cooled gelée mixture over the set panna cotta. Chill until firm.

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