Chai Panna Cotta
Ingredients
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
½ cup fine cane sugar
1 cinnamon stick
5 cardamom pods
5 whole cloves
6 black peppercorns
¼ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
⅛ tsp allspice
2 black tea bags
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
Method
In a medium-sized pot, add the cream, milk, and sugar. Place over medium-low heat and whisk until the sugar has dissolved.
Reduce the heat to low and add the cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, peppercorns, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice. Steep on low heat for 10 minutes.
While the cream is steeping with the spices, add the gelatin leaves to a bowl of cold water to bloom.
After 10 minutes, add the tea bags to the cream and allow them to steep with the spices on low heat for 5 more minutes.
Pour the cream mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Add the gelatin and stir until it has completely dissolved. Strain the mixture through the sieve once to catch any remaining particles.
Whisk in the vanilla bean paste before pouring the liquid into small jars, molds, ramekins, or whatever you choose to use for your panna cotta. Once all the liquid is in its molds, place them in the refrigerator to set for about 3 hours before serving with whipped cream, berries, and cinnamon. Enjoy!
NotesPanna cotta is much simpler than it seems, making it a fantastic dessert choice when you want something elevated without a lot of effort.
The key to panna cotta is to avoid over-setting it, which can happen if you add too much gelatin. I've linked the gelatin leaves I used, but if you’re using a different product, be sure to check its directions first, and consider reducing the amount by 1. For example, the leaves I use suggest 1 leaf per ½ cup of liquid. Since this recipe uses 3 cups, that would mean 6 leaves. However, I only used 5 leaves instead of 6, which allowed my panna cotta to retain a bit of movement without being completely hard.
Tools and extra items I used: