My father believes in celebrating everything. Successes and more importantly, failures. I remember whenever I failed a test in school (it always used to be geography for some reason), he always bought me rasgullas and told me to study harder. My sister’s and my successes were celebrated too, of course, in a grander way. I’ve carried on that tradition to this day.
This week, I really have something to celebrate. My debut into the fiction writing. If someone had told me a year ago that I would be writing short stories, I would have laughed. But life takes you down paths which you never thought you would cross. C’est La Vie! To celebrate, I made a Chamomile – Vanilla Panna Cotta.
Panna Cotta is one of my most favorite desserts. I’ve made it in a number of different ways and it never fails to appeal to my taste buds. Panna Cotta, in Italian means ‘cooked cream’. In its simplest form it is just cream heated up with sugar and gelatin. It sits in the fridge overnight to form the most amazing, creamy pudding.
I’m not a tea drinker. By tea, I mean the Indian chai with milk and sugar. I am committed to coffee. I, however, love chamomile tea. I found this wonderful honey-vanilla chamomile tea at Safeway and I’m hooked. I love it so much that I wanted to incorporate it into my panna cotta. It’s like eating my chamomile tea!! And although the tea has vanilla in it, I added a vanilla bean too, just for a double dose.
Here’s the recipe I took inspiration from – Chamomile Panna Cotta.
| Prep Time | 5 minutes |
| Cook Time | 20 minutes |
| Passive Time | 4-6 hours |
| Servings |
servings
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- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 vanilla bean
- 1 tablespoon gelatin use agar-agar to make it vegetarian
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 bags of chamomile tea
Ingredients
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Pour water in a bowl, sprinkle gelatin on it and let it stand for a minute to bloom.
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Heat slowly till gelatin is dissolved and set aside.
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In a saucepan, heat cream, milk and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Heat till it is just shy of boiling.
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Slit a vanilla bean in the middle and scrape out the seeds with the back of your knife and add it to the milk-cream mixture.
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Off the heat, add the tea bags and let it steep for 5 minutes.
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Remove the tea bags, add the gelatin and mix well.
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Pour into ramekins.
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Cover them with plastic wrap and make sure the plastic touches the panna cotta. This will prevent that unsavory skin from forming on top.
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Chill these babies for at least 4-6 hours, preferably overnight.
You can serve these in the ramekins itself. But if you want to serve it on a plate, just run your knife along the edges of the panna cotta to ease it out. Place the ramekin in warm water for minute and invert it on to a plate. It should slide out easily. Serve with fresh berries.
