Before I get into this post, I have to tease you all a little first. Later on today, Mei and I are going to have a little mother-daughter dinner and walk through the park in London, followed by a cooking demo & book signing at Divertimenti in Marylebourne (London) to get our copy of The Perfect Scoop signed by David Lebovitz. We will post pictures of our day and hopefully some good photos of little Miss Mei (if she is willing) with Mr. Lebovitz (if he is willing)! Ok, on to the post! Chai!
We have been kind of silly for chai this week, making those delicious chai snickerdoodles and having cups of chai latte, so what was there to do with the leftover liquid Tazo Chai blend but to make some panna cotta? The refrigerator gave me the idea when I opened its doors and saw a full liter of heavy cream that I hadn’t yet used for anything that needed to be consumed soon.
I simply made my “skeleton” panna cotta recipe and made sure to add at least a cup of chai to start and then just a dash or two more, to taste, as the chai should be added to any other liquid in a one to one ratio. I also added the sugar to taste, but added no more than 1/2 C. It came out tasting like a creamy chai latte, with just a few raspberries or strawberries on top (if I had had any) would have tasted amazing as well!
A friend of mine managed to find some beautiful panna cotta or jelly molds, these delightful bright copper and aluminum cups that have many little designs in them, which were a joy to fill. I gave about half of the little cups away to neighbors and friends, ate two almost immediately after they were set and had the rest for breakfast! Panna cotta is such a simple dessert and can be made with virtually any flavors, berries or whatever your little heart desires! It’s truly magnificent!
Ingredients:
- 4 C (1 liter) heavy cream or half and half
- 1/2 C (100g) sugar
- 2 packets of unflavored gelatin
- 6 TBS cold water
- 1 C (plus more to taste) Tazo Chai Tea blend
Heat the cream and sugar in a saucepan and stir until the sugar is dissolved, then remove from heat and stir in the chai. Taste the mixture and add more chai if desired.
Lightly oil panna cotta molds with a neutral tasting oil.
Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water in a medium bowl, let the gelatin soften about 5-10 minutes.
Pour the warm panna cotta mixture over the prepared cups and chill them for at least four hours or until set.
When you are ready to serve them, run a butter knife along the edge to loosen or dip the bottoms of the cups in hot water to loosen, invert each on a plate, garnish as desired and serve.