Thai Milk Tea Panna Cotta With Brown Sugar Pearls

10 mins Prep Time

15 mins Cook Time

Written By

Nadia Boachie

Panna cotta is one of my all-time favourite desserts, thick, sweetened heavy cream and milk gelatinized and served cold. This variation of the popular Italian dessert takes a Thai twist flavoured with Thai tea leaves giving it a bright orange colour. It is smooth, silky, perfectly sweetened and I decided to serve this with brown sugar boba pearls to make this reminiscent of a glass of Thai milk bubble tea. The dessert is not only eye-catching but perfect for a festive Halloween dessert for its colours. I served this recently at a Thai-themed dinner party and was very happy with how it turned out. If you are looking for a fun and tasty dessert at your next dinner party, check this recipe out.

Ingredients

Thai Milk Tea Panna Cotta With Brown Sugar Pearls

2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup condensed milk
2 1/4 teaspoons gelatin
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup loose Thai leaves
2 tablespoons cold water
Brown sugar, to serve
Brown sugar tapioca pearls, to serve
1 cup water
1/2 cup muscovado sugar, or another dark brown sugar

Directions

Panna Cotta

11 Steps

Step 1

In a metal bowl, add milk and Thai tea leaves. Cover and place in fridge for 8 hours. I prefer to cold steep but alternatively, you can heat milk in a small sauce pan and right before boiling, add Thai tea leaves and let sit for 5 minutes.
Step 2

Strain milk after 8 hours (or 5 minutes) and set aside.
Step 3

Take your cold water (2 1/4 teaspoons) and place in a small bowl. Sprinkle gelatin on the surface and set aside.
Step 4

Combine your cream, condensed milk and sugar in a small pot and place over medium heat until sugar is fully dissolved.
Step 5

Add your concentrated Thai tea infused milk and mix and let come to boil.
Step 6

Note: At this stage, if I find that the mixture is too light or after tasting, doesn't have enough tea flavour, I add 1/2 cup of Thai tea leaves and an additional 1/2 cup of milk, and let sit for 5 minutes and strain. If you add more milk and tea leaves, add about 1/8 teaspoon more gelatin to the set aside mix of water and gelatin and 1 tablespoon more sugar to the pot.
Step 7

Let your sweetened strained cream-milk mixture come to a light boil, remove from heat and add your gelatin and water mixture. Stir until gelatin is fully dissolved.
Step 8

When gelatin is dissolved, strain one more time and pour into a container that has a spout, so it is easy to pour from. (Think measuring glass).
Step 9

Divide mixture accordingly between glasses of your choice, let rest at room temperature until cooled. Cover and place in fridge to set for at least 2 hours.
Step 10

To serve, let sit out at room temperature for 5 minutes and turn over onto plate, alternatively serve right out of glass.
Step 11

Note: When I made this, after setting, I noticed some gritty tea residue left at the bottom of the panna cotta. If you are serving your panna cotta turned out of the glass, this bottom part can be easily sliced off with a sharp knife. If serving right in a glass, be cognizant of the residue at bottom of dessert.

Brown Sugar Tapioca Pearls

5 Steps

Step 1

Cook tapioca pearls as per instructed on the box. Check your nearest Asian grocery store if you do not know where to buy this. They sell dehydrated tapioca pearls at T&T or Pat's Central for those living in Toronto.
Step 2

Once tapioca is cooked, strain, run under cold water to cool and stop cooking.
Step 3

In a separate pot, add water and sugar and bring to a boil until it starts to thicken.
Step 4

Add this syrup to strained tapioca and mix well, letting it bubble in the syrupy mixture for about 10-15 minutes.
Step 5

Let cool and serve over panna cotta.