Lychee & passion fruit panna cottas

This creamy set dessert comes with a tropical jelly topping. Make sure you keep your measurements precise to get the right consistency

  • Prep:15 mins
    plus 4 hrs chilling (no cook)
  • Serves 6
  • More effort

Nutrition per serving

  • kcal 494
  • fat 37g
  • saturates 23g
  • carbs 36g
  • sugars 33g
  • fibre 1g
  • protein 4g
  • salt 0.1g

Ingredients

  • 400ml double cream
  • 100ml milk
  • 60g golden caster sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla paste
  • 125g peeled and stoned lychees, plus extra whole fruits to garnish
  • 5 sheets gelatine
  • 6 tbsp passion fruit, orange or lemon curd
  • 2 ripe passion fruits, flesh scooped out, to serve
  • 200ml strained passion fruit juice, plus 2 tbsp seeds (see tip, below)
  • 40g golden caster sugar
  • 2 sheets gelatine

Tip

Cooking with passion fruit

Buy passion fruit at least 4-5 days before you need it as most are sold unripe. When the skin goes wrinkly, it’s ready to use. For the jelly, buy passion fruit juice and 1-2 passion fruits for the seeds, or whizz the seeds from 16 ripe passion fruits in a blender to separate the ‘juice’, then sieve to measure 200ml and return 2 tbsp of the seeds left in the sieve.

Method

  1. Make the passion fruit jelly first. Heat the passion fruit juice and sugar in a saucepan, stirring, until the sugar has completely dissolved. Meanwhile, put the 2 sheets of gelatine in cold water and leave to soak for about 5 mins until soft. Take the juice off the heat. Add the gelatine and stir until it melts, then stir in the passion fruit seeds. Pour into 6 dariole moulds, or a similar container that can be turned out. Chill for 1 hr or until firmly set.

  2. Purée the cream, milk, sugar, vanilla paste and lychees in a food processor or a blender. Sieve and pour into a saucepan. While it’s heating, soak the 5 sheets of gelatine in cold water, as before, until soft. When the cream is just under boiling, remove from the heat. Squeeze the water from the gelatine, add sheets to the cream mixture, then stir until dissolved. Cool to room temperature. Stir, then pour into the moulds. Chill for at least 3 hrs or up to a day, to set. Can be done a day ahead.

  3. When ready to serve, pour boiling water into a bowl. Dip sides of each mould into the water, holding it in for a second. Place a plate on top and flip over to turn out. Serve the panna cottas with extra lychees, some curd and more passion fruit flesh.

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