Black Forest Panna Cotta

A fresh and delicate dessert version of the classic black forest cake. Vanilla, Cherries and Chocolate, a magnificent trio. The addition of the yoghurt and the cream makes for a very fresh dessert. A light but still very satisfying dessert.

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The Three Components to Black Forest Panna Cotta

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What is panna cotta?

Panna Cotta is a no-bake dessert and means ‘cooked cream’, literally translated from Italian. It is a very classic Italian dessert and was probably one of the first I learned how to cook at Hotelschool! Gosh, Italy even knows how to do dessert right. Panna Cotta has a very creamy texture with a good wiggle to it. There are so many variations you can make on it too, think about coffee, caramel, chocolate, fruit, yoghurt, chai or a classic vanilla flavour. We love a versatile dessert 🤤

What is black forest?

The original dessert stems from the southwestern region in Germany and the dessert is originally known as the ‘Schwärzwalder kirsch torte’ (literally translated: ‘Black Forest Cake’). It typically consists of cherries, whipped cream and chocolate cake. Now I’ve made my own interpretation here and made a vanilla panna cotta with a cherry compote and a crunchy chocolate topping. Traditionally you would also want to add ‘Kirschwasser’, which is a clear spirit made from sour cherries. Now if you were to incorporate this into the dessert, I would add it to your cherry compote after cooking to make it nice and boozy. 

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What is crunchy chocolate soil made of? 

Now, this is a dessert component that I’ve learned while watching Heston Blumenthal’s cooking and I found it such an interesting addition to this dessert! It gives an incredible crunch and just the right amount of chocolate flavour, that does not overpower the other elements of the dessert. You do want to use high-quality chocolate with at least 80% cacao as the sugar will mellow down the flavour a lot.

Crunchy Chocolate Soil is basically a crystallised chocolate crumb. Normally, you would never want to mix chocolate and water and get it to crystallise, but that’s exactly what we’re (purposely) doing here. Once you add the chocolate into the sugar mixture it magically transforms into a roasted, crumbly and crunchy texture within seconds.

Store your chocolate soil in an airtight container to keep it crunchy. 

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Should I use fresh or frozen cherries?

Both would work equally well! When cherries are in season, I would naturally always gravitate towards using fresh cherries. An upside of using fresh cherries would be that they tend to hold their shape better than frozen cherries when cooked. HOWEVER, we all know how much time it takes to deseed fresh cherries and then I haven’t even mentioned the mess it gives! So, if you’re looking for the most convenient and stress-free, I would opt for frozen cherries. 

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How to get the Panna Cotta out of its mould

For this version of the panna cotta, I prefer to serve it in a glass, but you are more than able to pour it in a mould and serve it on a plate instead once cooled. Now, this is probably the ‘hardest’ part about making this Panna Cotta, getting it out of its mould. But… with this one tip, you’ll get it out in no time. To get it out of its mould without breaking, carefully run a knife around the edges of the panna cotta. Try not to get any water on the panna cotta itself, only on the outside of the mould. Then dip the mould in some hot water, which will slightly melt the outside of the panna cotta. Place the plate you will serve it on on top of your mould and turn it upside down in a confident motion and you should hear the panna cotta falling on the plate. 

How do I keep Panna Cotta fresh?

You can keep your Panna Cotta stored in the fridge for at 3-4 days, just keep it sealed with plastic wrap. 

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