Osmanthus Panna Cotta
Possibly one of the greatest desserts I've ever made. The flavor combination of the cream, osmanthus, and vanilla is just perfect. This is very loosely based off of this recipe for osmanthus panna cotta with kumquats in vanilla bean syrup (https://www.dessertsforbreakfast.com/2011/04/osmanthus-panna-cotta-with-kumquats-in.html), but with much more osmanthus in the panna cotta and topping it with pre-made osmanthus syrup instead. The best part is that this dessert is actually remarkably easy to make. Makes roughly eight 6-oz ramekins, can prepare in advance, and can be served cold.
Active Time: 30 min
Total Time: 3 hr
Ingredients
> whole milk (2 cups)
> heavy cream (2 cups)
> dried osmanthus flowers (1/4 cup)
> vanilla bean (1)
> powdered gelatin (1 tbsp)
> cold water (4 tbsp)
> sugar (1/2 cup)
> oil
> osmanthus syrup / jelly / honey
Instructions
1. In a saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, bring whole milk, heavy cream, dried osmanthus flowers, and vanilla bean (halved, seeds scraped) to a simmer. Mix occasionally to prevent the cream from scalding. Cover, and remove from the heat. Let "steep" for ~10m.
2. In the meantime, in a small bowl mix powdered gelatin with cold water and let bloom for ~5m.
3. Add sugar to cream mixture, stir over medium-low heat until completely dissolved. Add gelatin, stir until completely dissolved. Turn off heat.
4. (optional) Lightly grease insides of molds with neutral oil
5. Pour the cream into the prepared molds. Leave a little space at the top for the osmanthus syrup.
6. Refrigerate for >2h, covered
7. (optional) Dip the bottoms of the panna cotta molds into a bowl of hot water, and turn out the panna cottas to unmold.
8. Top with a bit of osmanthus syrup / jelly / honey. Enjoy!
Notes/Tips:
> The osmanthus syrup that we bought had a bit of a jelly-like consistency, it seems like it was some kind of sugar syrup with dried osmanthus flowers inside. I think it is actually important, the concentrated sugar + osmanthus flavor makes a big difference.
> If you don't have a vanilla bean, you can substitute it for 1-2 tsp of vanilla extract. I'm not really sure what the appropriate conversion is, but at the end of the day it doesn't really matter that much.