I am currently playing with shapes and structures in the kitchen. Since the oven has become pretty much useless, I can’t bake any Christmas cookies this year. Luckily our microwave has an oven function, so casseroles can still be made.
But this also gives me an excuse to experiment a bit more with mousses, crèmes , entremets … and more. Todays’ experiment was a yogurt mousse flavored with orange blossom, with a core of apricot purée, garnished with pistachios, pomegranate seeds and edible flowers. A luxurious breakfast it was.
I’m not sure that this recipe can still be called a panna cotta as the amount of cream I used is low! The cream has been replaced by Greek yogurt for this Italian dessert to become less caloric. And it has a rather soft texture, softer and creamier than a traditional panna cotta.
Ingredients (6 dômes of 7cm diameter):
- 300 gr of Greek yogurt
- 10cl cream
- 40 gr sugar
- 1 tbsp orange blossom water
- 2 tsp.of aga.-agar
- 100 g apricot purée
- 1 sheet of gelatin
Method:
For the apricot insert (to prepare the day before):
- Soften the gelatin in a large volume of cold water for at least 15 minutes.
- Put the fruit puree in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Remove from the heat and add the softly wrung gelatin; mix well to dissolve it.
- Pour this preparation into small, 3 cm large dome moulds.
- Put in the freezer for the night.
For the yogurt mousse:
- In a bowl, whisk the yogurt, orange blossom water and sugar.
- In a saucepan, combine cream and agar agar. Bring to a boil and boil for 30 seconds.
- Pour the mixture slowly over the yoghurt while beating with the electric whisk. Beat for about a minute.
- Pour half of the yogurt mousse into 7cm dôme moulds and place in the freezer for 10 minutes.
- Place the apricot inserts and pour the rest of the mousse to fill the molds.
- Place back in the freezer for about an hour.
- Remove from the freezer, unmould and keep in the fridge.
NOTE: you can serve this as a dessert, even on top of a joconde biscuit, but I just served them as a breakfast with lots of pomegranate seeds, chopped pistachios and edible flowers.