Vanilla and Cranberry Panna Cotta Parfaits

• Recipe by Alison Attenborough and Jamie Kimm

This dessert is made up of two elements—creamy vanilla panna cotta and a clear cranberry jelly. Alison created a graphic look by tilting the plastic glasses at a 45-degree angle as the first two layers are poured and allowed to set.

Ingredients

CRANBERRY JELLY

1. 3 tablespoons unflavored powdered gelatin
2. 2 quarts cranberry juice
3. 1/4 cup honey
4. 1 teaspoon orange-flower water (optional)

PANNA COTTA

1. 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons unflavored powdered gelatin
2. 2 tablespoons cold water
3. 6 cups heavy cream
4. 3 3/4 cups plain whole-milk yogurt
5. 1 1/2 cups sugar
6. 2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise, seeds scraped
7. Red currants and mint leaves, for garnish

Directions

1. MAKE THE CRANBERRY JELLY: In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin evenly over 2 cups of the cranberry juice. Let stand until the gelatin has softened, about 5 minutes.
2. In a medium saucepan, bring the remaining 6 cups of cranberry juice to a simmer. Remove from the heat and stir in the honey and orange-flower water. Whisk in the gelatin mixture. Let cool for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
3. MEANWHILE, MAKE THE PANNA COTTA: In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin evenly over the water and let stand until soft-ened, about 5 minutes. In a large heatproof bowl, whisk 3 cups of the heavy cream with the yogurt.
4. In a medium saucepan, combine the remaining 3 cups of heavy cream with the sugar and the vanilla beans and seeds and bring to a simmer over moderately high heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar. Remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk the gelatin mixture into the hot vanilla cream. Strain the cream through a fine-mesh sieve set over the yogurt mixture and whisk thoroughly to blend. Let yogurt panna cotta cool for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Set 20 small and sturdy plastic glasses on a tray. Ladle 1/4 cup of the yogurt panna cotta mixture into each glass (see Note) and refrigerate until set, about 3 hours.
6. Carefully ladle about 6» tablespoons of the cranberry jelly over the panna cotta layer and refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.
7. About 30 minutes before adding the last layer, gently warm the remaining panna cotta mixture just until melted. Ladle ¥ cup of the panna cotta into each glass, Cover the glasses with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours longer. Serve chilled, garnished with small clusters red currant clusters.

Make Ahead

The panna cottas can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Notes

Tilt the glasses in muffin pans or egg cartons, if desired. While assembling the dessert, if either the panna cotta or jelly are too firm to pour into the glasses, warm them gently just until melted.