Panna Cotta with Tonka Bean and Pear Compote
Panna Cotta is one of my favorite Italian desserts. Just made by simmering cream, sugar and gelatin. You can flavor it by adding wild berries, caramel, chocolate sauce, etc. Today, I am going to flavor it with a tonka bean. This bean is very popular in France, but hard to find in North America. It has an incomparable taste of almond with touches of caramel, hay, leather, and tobacco.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
FOR THE PANNA COTTA:
- 2 cups whipping cream
- 0.5 cup sugar
- 1 small tonka bean, grated
- 2 sheets gelatin or 1 teaspoon of Agar-Agar vegetable gelatin or 1 1/2 teaspoons unflavoored powdered gelatin
- 2 tablespoons water
- Mint leaves to garnish
FOR THE PEAR COMPOTE:
- 2 pears peeled, cored and diced
- 0.5 cup water
- 0.25 cup sugar
Instructions
- Make the Panna Cotta: In a medium saucepan, combine the cream, sugar and grated tonka bean. Bring the mixture just to a simmer over moderate heat. Remove from the heat, cover and let steep for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let stand until evenly moistened for about 5 minutes.
- Uncover the cream mixture and bring just to a simmer over moderately high heat. Remove from heat, add the gelatin and stir until dissolved. Pour the Panna Cotta mixture into 4x 4-ounce ramekins or glasses and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until the Panna Cotta is set but still jiggles, for at least 3 hours.
- Make the pear compote: In a medium saucepan, place the pear together with sugar, and water; toss together. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, and allow it to cool.
- Serve: Serve in the ramekins or glasses with pear compote over the top; garnish with a mint
