Finally, it´s Christmas time. Like almost everybody, I am spending Christmas with my family at my parents house and everybody is busy preparing. When it comes to Christmas dinner, we are very traditional, it´s usually the same every year. But I am responsible for the dessert so technically, I can get creative. In reality, there is always this huge demand for panna cotta. But since it´s about giving joy and making other people happy, this years (and last years aswell) dessert is panna cotta. And because it is winter, I am making it with pomegranates. Yumm!

I found the inspiration for this recipe on this wonderful blog. Just the colourful combination makes the dessert look spectacular. So I decided to combine the idea with my own favourite panna cotta recipe, add some homemade pomegranate syrup and voilá…there you have the perfect Christmas dessert.

In order for it to look like it is supposed to be, it is necessary to first prepare the pomegranate jelly and let it cool in the fridge untill it hardens before adding the panna cotta itself. If you want to eat the panna cotta straight out of the mold, you should prepare the panna cotta first, before adding the pomegranate jelly. You will need:

For the pomegranate jelly:

1-2 sheets of gelatin

2 pomegranates

Red food coloring (optional)

1) Put the sheets of gelatin in cold water and let soak for 10 minutes. Cut open the pomegranates and squeeze out the juice. Put the juice in a small pan and heat, be careful to not let it boil.

2) Take the sheets of gelatin out of the water, squeeze a little and add to the warm pomegranate juice. Stir until it has dissolved completely. If you like, you can add some food coloring.

3) Fill the jelly in small molds, about 1/2 cm high. Put in the fridge and let cool.

For the panna cotta (make about 4 servings):

500 g cream

1 vanilla bean

50 g sugar

3 sheets of gelatin

1) Cut the vanilla bean and take out the core. Then, 400 g cream, sugar and the vanilla bean plus its core are heated in a pot. Once it´s hot, turn down the heat and let the cream simmer for about 10 minutes. In the meantime, put the sheets of gelatin in cold water, they need about 10 minutes to soak.

2) When the cream is done, remove the pot from the heat and dissolve each sheet of gelatin slowly in the warm cream. Let cool completely. In the meantime, whip the remaining 100 g and mix with the rest of the vanilla cream once it is cool. Fill the panna cotta on top of the jelly and let cool in the fridge for about 4 hours, until the panna cotta is stiff.

For the pomegranate sirup:

3 pomegranates

100 ml grape juice

2 tbsp. sugar

1 dash of cinnamon or clove powder

1) Cut open the pomegranates and squeeze out the juice. Put in a pan, together with sugar and grape juice and let cook for about 5 minutes until it becomes thicker. Add cinnamon and clove powder and let cool.

To serve the panna cotta, put the molds in hot water. That way it is easier to turn them out of their molds. Add some pomegranates seeds on the top and serve with the sirup. Enjoy!