I have made a lot of panna cotta in my life. It is quick and easy to make, good any time of year, and you can dress it up or down depending on your mood. Traditionally panna cotta is poured into a ramekin or custard cup, and then released upside down onto a dessert plate. Often it is served with a sauce and fruit.
I think it’s more elegant served in a glass of some sort. A martini glass is fancy, but any glass will do. I sometimes use tiny votive holders for the cuteness factor, and because the dessert is so rich.
I’ve almost always made vanilla bean panna cotta and served it with the most beautiful and ripest fruit available. It is the little black dress of desserts, changing its personality depending on the season.This time I thought about the fruit first. Figs and plums were abundant in the produce aisles, and their deep purples and vibrant greens were irresistible.
But it is the mystery of their interior that really excites me. You can’t know until you slice them open whether the inside of an Adriatic fig will be vibrant red or mahogany. The plums could be red, purple or yellow.
Vanilla would have been good with these fruits, but I thought green tea might be a more interesting combination. Green tea was nice, but it was too subtle. Next I tried jasmine tea. Jasmine tea is green tea that is layered with jasmine blossoms until the tea is full of the scent of the flowers. I used loose leaf Jasmine Yin Hao, and it was ambrosial. (You can use tea bags instead, but I recommend loose leaf tea for the best flavor.) To add color and a bit of tartness, I made plum sauce to pool on the panna cotta, and then sliced the figs and plums to arrange on top.
Ingredients
- Makes 4 (6 oz.) servings
- 1 ½ cups cream
- ¼ cup low fat milk
- 2 tablespoons loose leaf Jasmine green tea (you can use tea bags, but loose leaf is usually fresher and more flavorful)
- 2 ¼ teaspoon (1 envelope) powdered, unflavored gelatin
- (for tips on using other gelatin visit the David Lebovitz tutorial)
- 3 tablespoons cool water
- 2/3 cups sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 4 medium plums
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons sugar (add more to taste, if necessary)
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-3 different colored plums, sliced
- 2-3 figs, cut into wedges vertically through the stem
Instructions
Heat the cream and milk together in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring it just to a simmer, don’t let it boil. Remove the pan from the heat and add the jasmine tea. Stir the mixture gently to immerse all of the tea leaves. Cover the pan and let steep for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, place the 3 tablespoons of water in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin evenly over the water, stir it to make sure all of the gelatin is moistened. Let gelatin sit until the cream/tea mixture has finished steeping.
Gently stir the sugar and salt into the cream mixture, and then add the gelatin mixture. Stir to fully combine. Strain the mixture into a measuring cup or pitcher with a spout. With the strainer still over the container, gently press the tea leaves to extract all of the liquid. Pour into the serving containers.
Refrigerate until set—about 4 hours. Serve when set, or cover with plastic wrap and return to the fridge if not eating until the next day. They are best eaten within two days.
To make the plum sauce:
Wash, pit and slice the plums—do not peel. Place the plums, water and sugar in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until the plums are very soft. Puree the plum mixture in a food processor, or put through a food mill. Add the vanilla extract.Taste the sauce for sweetness. If necessary, add more sugar to the mixture to suit your taste. Stir to completely dissolve the added sugar. Strain the sauce and transfer it to a small bowl and refrigerate until cold.
To assemble the dessert:
Remove the panna cottas from the fridge. Carefully spoon a spoonful of plum sauce onto the surface of the panna cotta, and then tilt the container to distribute the sauce evenly over the top. Arrange the fruit on top of the dessert.
http://madeleineeffect.com/2015/10/jasmine-tea-panna-cotta/
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