Blackberry, Nectarine & Seabuckthorn Panna Cotta

Wanting to use the blackberries and seabuckthorn we picked last weekend, I decided to make a vanilla bean panna cotta. The vanilla bean panna cotta is delicious in itself, but as it is a simple, uncomplicated dessert with a really beautiful but light vanilla flavor, it really lets the berries shine. With the berries, I kept things really simple. Rather than making a coulis or a berry sauce, we wanted to get all the vitamins from the raw berries so we simply macerated them. We had a blackberry vanilla panna cotta the first day, and a nectarine seabuckthorn vanilla panna cotta the next. I paired nectarine with seabuckthorn as the sweetness in the nectarines would balance out the sourness of the berries. (Please excuse my not so amazing pictures. I was more focused on eating the dessert than photographing it!)

Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta (recipe adapted from David Lebovitz)

I halved the recipe to make 4 servings

2 cups heavy cream (I used 1 cup heavy cream and 1 cup half and half)

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 tsp gelatin powder

3 tbsp cold water

Heat the heavy cream and sugar in a small pot on the stove. Once the sugar is dissolved, turn off the heat. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the cream and place the vanilla bean in the mixture as well. Cover and let everything infuse for 30 minutes. (Reheat the cream before continuing.)

Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water in a medium sized bowl and let stand for 5 minutes.

Pour the very warm cream over the gelatin and stir until the gelatin has dissolved.

Divide the panna cotta into 4 cups and chill until firm. Around 4 hours. 

To serve, run a sharp knife around the edge of each panna cotta and unmold unto a plate to serve. Or eat them right out of the cup! Garnish with berries, shaved chocolate, etc. 

The panna cotta can be made in advance and stored in the fridge for a few days.

Macerated Berries/Fruit
Super easy, follow your instincts

Sprinkle two teaspoons of sugar over a cup of blackberries, give it a good mix, and let sit for at least half an hour.

Sprinkle two teaspoons of sugar over 2 nectarines cut into small chunks and a few tablespoons of seabuckthorn, give it a good mix, and let sit for at least half an hour.

The sugar draws out some of the juice from the fruit and creates a light syrup/sauce.

Enjoy!