For the occasion of International Tea Day, we bring a sweet little twist on how to infuse different kinds of tea into a delicious little jiggly Italian dessert. We are talking about the milky panna cotta that in itself is simple and quite milky, with the addition of tea, it will make for quite an interesting dessert! So, read on if infusing your panna cotta with green tea, oolong tea and milk tea sounds intruiging to you.
Milk Tea Panna Cotta
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 5 tbsp white or brown sugar
- 3 sheets gelatin
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup loose black tea leaves
Brown Sugar Syrup:
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Grease your panna cotta molds with a little vegetable oil, if you wish to de-mold them. Dab with a paper towel to get rid of the excess.
- Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water until soft. Set aside. You can also use powdered gelatin into cold water to bloom, to avoid this step.
- Take a medium saucepan, pour the milk, heavy cream, and sugar and simmer. Once it starts to simmer, remove from the heat.
- Squeeze the gelatin sheets, to remove any excess water. Then add it to the pan, or add the bloomed gelatin, stirring until the gelatin melts.
- Next, add the vanilla extract and loose tea leaves. Let the tea steep for 10-15 minutes.
- Strain it through a fine mesh sieve and pour equally among the prepared molds.
- Refrigerate the dessert molds, until set, for at least 4-6 hours.
- To demold the panna cotta, dip the bottom of the mold into a bowl of hot water for 5 seconds to loosen the panna cotta.
- Use a thin knife around the edges to dislodge and carefully turn it over onto a serving plate.
- Serve with brown sugar syrup for an indulgent treat.
Oolong Panna Cotta
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp gelatin
- 3 tbsp water
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 tbsp oolong tea leaves
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Mix gelatin with chilled water in a small bowl. Set aside to bloom for 10 minutes.
- Add the oolong tea leaves to another small bowl.
- Heat heavy cream and whole milk over medium heat until warm (50°C) and pour the cream over the tea leaves. Let it steep for 30 minutes and stir occasionally.
- Strain the cream into a small saucepan and heat it until steaming. Remove the pan from the heat and add in the sugar, vanilla extract, and gelatin, then mix until dissolved. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool. Stir every few minutes.
- Pour this liquid into ramekins or cups, and set aside to cool to room temperature.
- Cover the ramekins with plastic wrap and refrigerate them. Let them set for 4-6 hours, then the next day, garnish with fruit and enjoy!
Green Tea Panna Cotta
Ingredients
- 3 sheets gelatin
- 2/3 cup full-fat milk
- 2 1/2 cups single cream
- 3/4 cup caster sugar
- 1 large cinnamon stick
- 7 green tea teabags
- 1 English breakfast teabag
- 12 cardamom pods, seeds only
Instructions
- Lightly grease 6 ramekin dishes with sunflower or vegetable oil. Set aside.
- Soak the gelatin leaves in a bowl of chilled water for 10 minutes.
- To a saucepan add the milk, cream, sugar, cinnamon stick, teabags and cardamom seeds. Bring to a boil on low heat, while stirring, until all of the sugar has dissolved.
- Remove the pan from the heat. Set aside.
- Now, squeeze out any excess water from the softened gelatin and stir it into the warm milk until dissolved.
- Strain the liquid through a sieve lined with muslin into a heatproof bowl. Then pour the mixture into the prepared ramekins.
- Set aside to cool completely, then chill in the fridge for 4-6 hours, until set.
- Once you are ready to serve the panna cotta, dip the bottoms of the moulds quickly into boiling water and turn the panna cotta out onto serving plates.