Mascarpone panna cotta topped with lemon jelly and florentine crumble

This mascarpone panna cotta with lemon gelée and florentine crumble really hits all the notes of a good dessert: creamy, crunchy, sour, and sweet! Learn how to make this make-ahead dessert with this easy recipe.

Components

The inspiration for this make-ahead dessert is cheesecake and also lemon meringue pie. To achieve this, we have a:

• panna cotta made with mascarpone so that it is creamy, rich, and smooth
• lemon jelly topping to add tang and sour notes to balance it out
• oat florentine cookies (recipe tweaked from Nestlé) with a slight caramel flavour reminiscent of graham crackers, crumbled over each jar of panna cotta. 

Timeline for this make-ahead dessert

For panna cotta desserts that are set with gelatin, you need to prepare them early enough so that the gelatin has time to set. Here's a schedule:

• 1 day before serving: make the florentines and the panna cotta.
• ½ day before serving (once panna cotta has set): make the lemon jelly and assemble

The finished dessert reminded me a lot of a lemon creamsicle, not quite the cheesecake flavour I had dreamed of. Still, I think they turned out beautifully, creamy and sweet on the bottom, with the tart jelly and nutty, crispy, caramel-y crumble on top.

For a plain sweet milk panna cotta, try this vanilla bean panna cotta served with strawberry jam. Or for a more elaborate dessert, these Earl Grey panna cotta tarts are beautiful and impressive!