Chai Latte Panna Cotta
So the other day I went to Starbucks and, not wanting to add to my already well-established coffee shakes (caffeine overload) but wanting something to sip on, I decided to take the path less traveled (for me, anyway) and get a chai latte.
On this particular day, I didn’t like it. She might have made it too strong, or maybe it was just that it wasn’t coffee. It’s not that I don’t like chai – I do – but for some reason I took a couple sips and just wasn’t that into it. As cheap as I am, I didn’t want to waste a $4 chai latte, either. Since it’s not mid-winter and there wasn’t the option to leave it in the cup holder of the car overnight and scrape it with a fork to make a granita (done that), I took it home and stuck it in the fridge. This morning, I found it. And made panna cotta.
Quick aside: W just got out of the tub and came in to proudly show me his freshly shaven legs.
But the panna cotta: I know I’ve gone on about how simple it is to make. I love being able to stir something together in two minutes and then go hey, I just whipped up a chai latte panna cotta for you. Because panna cotta sounds far more luxurious and complicated than Jell-O. No one’s particularly impressed by that. Even if you put a can of fruit cocktail in.
Panna cotta is just gelled cream – the perfect spring dessert. There are of course a ton of things you can do to fancy it up; you could flavour the cream with citrus, ginger, chocolate, brown sugar or spices. You could use buttermilk, or yogurt, or heavy cream. If there were a Desserts for Dummies book, panna cotta would be on the cover, because it’s almost impossible to screw up. All you have to do is dissolve the gelatin-if you manage that, you’re golden. (So: don’t crank up the heat and go check your email. If you keep it to medium and stay close so that the cream doesn’t boil over, you’ll be just fine.) This chai latte panna cotta is cute served in teacups, or pour it into little glasses or wine glasses and top with fresh berries. If you don’t want to go to Starbucks for a chai latte, start with 3 cups of cream and steep a chai teabag or two in it (bring to a simmer, then turn off the heat and let it steep for 10 minutes or so), take the teabags out and add a couple tablespoons of honey.
If you like, rub a few ramekins with oil, pour in the cream mixture and chill, then unmould them onto little plates; I like to relieve myself of the pressure of a clean unmoulding by serving them in whatever cups they’ve set in. Why invite disaster to your dinner party?
Starbucks Chai Latte Panna Cotta
1 grande chai latte
1 cup half & half or whipping cream
1 pkg. unflavoured gelatinDump the latte and cream into a small pot and sprinkle with the gelatin. Turn the heat to medium and heat the mixture, stirring occasionally, until it’s steaming hot and the gelatin has dissolved completely. Pour into tea cups, small glasses or wine glasses. Chill until firm.
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