This yogurt panna cotta flecked with vanilla bean is so rich and creamy! Post may contain affiliate links.
Please go check your fridge and pantry and see if you have gelatin, yogurt, a vanilla bean, milk, an orange and sugar. Why? Because you need to make this. Seriously. I am currently working my way through every panna cotta recipe that I can find, and this one from Eat Well, Eat Happy
has definitely moved to the top.
One thing that I am always going to have in my pantry is vanilla beans. If you’re like me, you buy them in little tubes of 2 or 3 that cost a fortune and then they end up being dry. I don’t know why I never thought of Amazon. But when I ran out of my DIY vanilla extract, I thought I would just check Amazon. Oh my gosh. I found and ordered these Grade A Premium Gourmet Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Beans , Fresh Prime, Approximatelly 17 Centimeters, 4 Ounce Bag
and was hugely impressed (so much so I wrote a positive review for them). They were the plumpest, most fragrant vanilla beans I have ever used. And there is a ton of them (they say there are around 27 per bag, I think there are even more). Now, I will not hesitate to use real vanilla beans in a recipe.
And speaking of recipes, this one was amazing.
You basically simmer some milk with the seeds and pod from a vanilla bean with a few strips of orange zest. It comes out absolutely perfect. It’s flavor is so delicate, vanilla with a hint of orange. Really I can’t say enough about it. In the book she serves it with a fresh fruit compote on top, but honestly I loved it so much plain, I don’t think it needs anything.
Two things to note about the recipe – on the ingredients list it says 3/4 cup sugar, but in the recipe text it says 1/2 cup sugar. I read through it several times to see if I could figure out where the other 1/4 cup of sugar fits in, but I couldn’t find it. So I just used 1/2 cup of sugar and it was plenty sweet enough. Also in the text it says to grease 6 ramekins, but then at the end of the recipe it says it serves 4 – obviously that should be 6.
Also a little change that I made because it’s how I usually do a panna cotta, she has you take a 1/2 cup of milk and put into a bowl and sprinkle that with the gelatin and then use the rest of the milk to simmer the ingredients. I just dumped everything in one pot, sprinkled the gelatin on top, waited 10 minutes and then brought it all to a simmer, stirring to disolve the gelatin (didn’t want to dirty another bowl).
Yogurt Panna Cotta Flecked with Vanilla Bean
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
- 1 1/2 cups milk 1 1/2 cups (mine was whole milk)
- 1 vanilla bean split lengthwise
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 strips orange zest each 2-3 inches long
- 2 cups plain whole-milk yogurt
- vegetable oil for ramekins
Instructions
- In a small bowl sprinkle the gelatin over 1/2 cup of milk (see my note above). Let stand without stirring for 10 minutes to allow the gelatin to soften.
- Pour 1 cup milk into a small saucepan over medium heat. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean and add those and the bean pod, 1/2 cup of sugar and the orange zest. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture comes to a simmer. Remove add the gelatin mixture and stir until dissolved, about 3-5 minutes, transfer to a large bowl. Cool about 10 minutes and remove vanilla bean and orange zest. Whisk in the yogurt.
- Lightly brush the insides of six 6-ounce ramekins with oil and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Divide yogurt mixture evenly among the ramekins. Cover and refrigerate until set, 8 hours-2 days. I personally find that mine sets in about 2-4 hours.
- To serve, gently run your knife around the sides of the ramekin to loosen. Place a plate over the top of each ramekin and holding the plate and the ramekin together invert and remove the ramekin. If desired serve with fresh fruit compote.
- Serves 6 (she says 4 in the book, but says 6 ramekins in the instructions!)
Nutrition
Make this. Seriously.
YUM! I’m in — will definitely try this as I have never made panna cotta before. Thanks, Pam!
Saw this on g+… looks good!! I pinned and shared on g+. I will try this. Sounds delicious…
Julia
Reeeally pretty pic by the window..cute jars too:-)
I’ve made panna cotta a grand total of one time. I have everything to make this except for the vanilla bean! This looks so light and elegant–a nice end to a Valentine’s dinner perhaps?
Thank you for stopping by and reading and commenting on my wetland post, Pam. I appreciate it!
what a perfect dessert
The only place locally that I have been able to find Vanilla Beans is at Trader Joe’s, Pam. I’ve really been resisting shopping online but it is getting to the point that I may just not have a choice.
And then there is the problem of knowing where and what kind of product I will receive. I certainly don’t mind spending the money but I want it to be good. I’ve actually thought of starting a day just for posting the Good, the Bad and the Delicious on my blog to help me and others out.
I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to know you had a good experience with buying the vanilla beans on Amazon. Another commenter mentioned another place also. So good to know:)
I have never made Pann Cotta but this one sounds like one I should definitely try. Thank goodness I still have some beans:) I can’t help mentioning the errors in the recipe. Was this recipe originally from a book? Whatever the reason you have made it your own and it looks heavenly.
Thank you so much for sharing, Pam…I’m bookmarking this recipe in my new Food Shopping Folder just in case I decide to explore post reviews.
i get kinda irrationally excited when i see vanilla beans in anything. this sounds awesome, pam!
I love this!
P.S. I was totally planning on featuring Vanilla Bean Pudding this week. So similar! Great minds 🙂
This is my kind of dessert. It looks delicious!!! Bookmarked.
How much yogurt do you use?
I love the subtle vanilla and citrus infusions! I’m not usually super crazy about citrus in desserts but I feel like I would love it like this.
It looks really bland but I bet it tasted really yum!
I want all the Panna Cotta you’ve been posting. Bucket list!
Yum! I order mine from Arizona Vanilla Company in bulk too and as they start to dry, I split them and store them in a bottle of vodka. Voila’ homemade vanilla extract.
Really enjoying your Panna Cotta “series”!