A few months ago one of my friends cooked me supper, the whole meal was absolutely delicious however the pudding was exceptional and I have been wanting to try to make it ever since.  The perfect opportunity presented itself a few weeks ago as I was cooking supper to celebrate my birthday with friends and family.  Given that panna cotta needs to set I made it a couple of days in advance which meant I didn’t have to do anything other than wash the berries on the day.

Thanks to my French housemate my kitchen is packed full with every cooking utensil and serving dish that you could possibly want which meant I was able to serve the panna cottas in individual cocottes which was quite fun and very easy for presentation purposes.  So if you can get your hands on mini-cocottes then all the better, otherwise,  ramekins would do the job just as well.

The flavour of the panna cotta is delightful and is a nice balance of sweet, tangy and creamy.  By serving it with raspberries it adds a slight sharpness that cuts through the panna cotta complimenting it beautifully.  This is a brilliant summer pudding good for special occasions or as a bit of a treat.

Vanilla and lemon panna cotta served with fresh raspberries (makes 6)

Ingredients:

• 400ml double cream
• 400ml yogurt
• 3 gelatine sheets (softened in water)
• ¼ vanilla pod and seeds
• zest of 3 lemons
• 100g caster sugar

To serve:

• 1-2 punnets of fresh raspberries
• juice of 1 lemon
•  1-2tbsp caster sugar

Steps:

1. Place the yogurt, lemon zest and vanilla seeds in a bowl and stir together.
2. Put the cream and sugar and vanilla pod into a pan and heat until the sugar has completely dissolved.
3. Add the gelatine to the pan, and cook until the gelatine is dissolved.
4. Sieve the cream and sugar mixture into the yogurt (this is to ensure your panna cotta is completely smooth).
5. Stir the mixture together and then carefully pour into 6 mini cocottes.
6. Leave to set over night.
7. Before serving, mix together the fresh raspberries, lemon juice and sugar in a bowl and serve with the panna cotta. Enjoy!