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Noyaux Panna Cotta with Cherry Sauce

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Makes 4 to 6 servings 1x

Time About 30 minutes, plus time to chill

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Ingredients

  • Good-quality vegetable oil for greasing
  • 3 cups heavy cream or 1 1/2 cups heavy cream and 1 1/2 cups half-and-half
  • Approximately 1 tablespoon (about 30-40) cherry pit kernels (noyaux); see note, below
  • 1 1/4-ounce envelope (about 2 1/2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin
  • 1 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • Cherry fruit sauce

Instructions

  1. Use a towel and a bit of oil to very lightly grease the insides of 4 large or 6 small custard cups.

  2. In a large saucepan, combine 2 cups cream and noyaux. Heat until steaming and just starting to bubble around the edges of the pan, 3-5 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover and steep 10 minutes. Strain out the noyaux and discard; return the cream to the saucepan.

  3. Put remaining 1 cup of the cream in a small saucepan and sprinkle the gelatin evenly over it; let sit for 5 minutes to soften. Put the saucepan over low heat and whisk until the gelatin dissolves completely, 3 to 5 minutes. Pour gelatin mixture into the saucepan with the noyaux cream and stir well to combine. Let the panna cotta cool for a few minutes.

  4. Pour the panna cotta into the custard cups. Chill until set, at least 4 hours (or up to a day). Serve in the cups with cherry sauce; or run a thin knife along the sides to loosen the panna cotta, dip the cups in hot water for about 10 seconds each, then invert onto plates and serve with cherry fruit sauce.

To note: Noyaux, the kernel found in the center of stone fruit pits, contains amygdalin, which, when ingested raw, can convert into cyanide inside the body. To deactivate the amygdalin, roast the pits in a 350°F oven for 10 minutes — this disables the cyanide-causing enzyme and also makes cracking them open easier. Use a nutcracker or a hammer to crack open the pits and extract the noyaux. In an abundance of caution, after cracking the pits and extracting the noyaux, cook again at 250°F for 5 minutes.

— Recipe adapted by Holly Haines from How to Cook Everything: Completely Revised Twentieth Anniversary Edition