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I’m a real sucker for cute fruits.
I found some little donut (or saturn) peaches at the supermarket and after exclaiming in delight at their shape, I bought a few with nothing in particular in mind.
Fast forward a few days, and after trying one, I thought it might be best to poach them. It might just have been that one peach, but it wasn’t as juicy and sweet as its fragrance had led me to expect. Poaching is a great way to improve disappointing peaches (and other fruit).
However, I only had two little peaches left and it seemed mean to just serve up one fruit apiece for dessert. So I threw the fridge door open and waited for inspiration to hit me. And it did.
In the depths of the fridge sat a half-full pot of cream and a tub of low-fat Greek yoghurt. Combined with some toffee-ish eucalyptus honey and gelatine, I knew they’d make an awesome panna cotta. Yoghurt–or yogurt if you’re across the pond–may not be a traditional ingredient of panna cotta, but it really does make a superb modern version. Seriously creamy, without burdening you with too much guilt, and a lovely little tang at the end that keeps you coming back for more.
I poached the peaches in some wine syrup. Alas, no recipe here. I just chucked the end of a bottle of cava into a pan, threw in some sugar and let it boil for a few minutes before adding the peaches. They poached for no longer than 10 minutes before cooling in the now rosy-pink liquid. I think the best thing about the donut peaches is popping out the stone from the middle of the fruit and being left with a perfect ring of white peach. So cute.
Finally I also made some pine nut brittle to add some crunch, since both the peaches and panna cotta were very smooth. Making brittle is really easy as long as you avoid burning the sugar mixture. My first attempt involved a sugar thermometer and resulted in some ghastly-tasting burnt brittle as I chose to believe the thermometer rather than my nose. The damn thing’s going in the bin.
I’m pretty proud of how well this dessert turned out. The panna cotta was just set, with that sexy wobble that is the hallmark of all great panna cottas, and it was incredibly creamy. The peaches turned out fresh, juicy and silky smooth with an incredible fragrance enhanced by the wine. And let’s not forget the crunch factor! The slightly salty crunchiness of the pine nut brittle was fantastic with the other components.
If there was such a thing as a dessert Olympics, this would run a very close second–maybe even a photo-finish would be required–to the strawberry soup. It’s that good.
Yoghurt Panna Cotta
100ml double cream
3 tablespoons flavourful honey (I used Eucalyptus)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
30g caster sugar
3 leaves gelatine
400ml Greek yoghurt
Place cream, honey, extract, and caster sugar in a small pan. Mix well. Bloom the gelatine leaves in a dish of cold water for five minutes.
Heat the mixture on low until sugar dissolves. Do not boil. Stir in the bloomed gelatine leaves until they melt.
Pour the mixture into the Greek yoghurt and mix well. Divide the mixture between two oiled teacups or large ramekins. Cover with clingfilm and chill overnight until set.
Pine nut brittle
80g caster sugar
80g pine nuts
pinch of sea salt
sunflower oil (or other neutral oil) for oiling
Melt the caster sugar over a low to medium heat in a small frying pan (or saucepan.) Meanwhile, line a shallow tin with baking parchment and oil it. Also oil a spatula. When it is golden brown-but in no way burnt!–add the salt and pine nuts. Stir quickly so that all the nuts are covered in caramel and immediately tip out onto the prepared tin.
Spread out with the oiled spatula until the brittle is as thin as you can get it, without crushing the nuts. Leave to cool and harden. Break into chunks when ready to serve.
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This is such a pretty dessert, the panna cotta looks lovely with the peaches.
I’ve not come across donut peaches before, but I might have to search some out now!
I am on a bit of a peach jag myself and I have a spanking new container of Greek yogurt just begging to be transformed. Great idea! Tha plating is lovely.
Oh my gosh. This looks great! I was just thinking about trying panna cotta for the first time, and adding yogurt sounds even better. Now I’m just going to have to figure out how to do it with powdered gelatin – I can’t find leaves to save my life.
Hi Kate! Thank-you ! *hugs* The big Sainsburys should have them and I know Tesco do too. Both under their premium brands, though.
Hi Erin! Hope you enjoy the panna cotta! And thanks for the compliment… I’ve been trying to improve my plating and photography. Glad you like it!
Hi Sweetbird! I’ve just weighed out the gelatine leaves and it comes to 4g. I hope that helps you make the panna cotta.
Thank you so much for that email. I was getting on the computer this morning and actually thinking about how I was going to make this today. I’ll do some more searching and just see if I can substitute 4g of powdered gelatin.
You’re great, thank you!
It looks so pretty. I love the idea of the pine nut brittle – what a clever idea.
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That looks truly amazing. I’ve seen those little “dougnut peaches” in Tesco but never tried them. And of course, you had me at “pine nut brittle”…! Inspired.
I agree, poaching is a great way to use up less than perfect fruit (or jams but with only 2 poaching is a better option). I love the whole presentation of this dish-I think it’s one that I would absolutely adore!
Hi Lorraine! Poaching is just so magical… it can work wonders and relieve all grumbly feelings after buying poor fruit. I love it
And thank-you! I think this is one of the perttiest dieshes I produced this year and using Greek yoghurt in panna cotta is now my standard recipe. Much less cloying, yet still decadent.
G’day. I have been copying your recipe for about a year now. I entered a desert n wine matching competion at a local winery easter time last year with an adaption of your panna cotta and came second. Cheers for that.
I used King Island creamy yoghurt and a vanilla pod (seeds scraped) in the heated mixture. I also used a beautiful orange blossom honey which is made locally too. Your beautiful peaches however would not have matched the wine so I used slow poached quinces which were a crimson red and sat in their reduced syrup on top of the panna cotta in an oversized wine glass.
Thanks so much for the inspiration and I am the hugest fan of yogurt panna cottas since finding your post. Well I have 6 to finish off now for dinner tomorrow night. P.s I still only use 3x gelatine leaves and they are sexily wobbly but definitely set.
p.s that sounded like I put the yoghurt in the pan to heat but I just meant the vanilla pod.