Chai Infused Panna Cotta with Grilled Pear and Chai Spiced Dukkah Recipe

This is the dessert recipe for when you want to impress! A little bit decadent, a little bit spicy - Uppma has put her chai twist on a classic panna cotta recipe. 

A few things to note:

• To make this dish suitable for vegetarians, we've used a vegetarian gelatine in the recipe. The brand we've used is Vegeset, here is a list of where you can get this from: Vegan Perfection, Flora & Fauna, The Vegan Kind. You could also use Agar.
• Of course, you could use regular gelatine leaves. The recipe calls for 3 leaves. Soak them in warm water, then squeeze out and add to the warmed milk/chai/suagr mixture just before straining it.
• We've used pears as our fruit of choice, but you could also use figs or apples.
• Lastly, you'll also notice a cheeky cross-promotion of our yummy Sweet Chai Dukkah recipe below, which is the perfect addition to be sprinkled on top of these cooked desserts.

Chai Panna Cotta

Ingredients

300ml cream (vegan alternative can be used)
375ml full cream milk  (vegan alternative can be used)
1 tablespoon Chai Walli 11 Spice Chai blend
1.5 teaspoons vegeset powder (vegetiarian gelatine)
110g jaggery
1 vanilla bean, or the equivalent of vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter
2 pears
Drizzle of Summer Hill Honey
Sweet Chai Dukkah (find the recipe here)

Equipment needed: 6 x individual panna cotta moulds (otherwise known as Dariole or pudding moulds). You could also use mugs, short glasses, or silicon moulds. Uppma has used some small glasses for her moulds.

Method

1. Place cream and milk into a non-stick saucepan on a medium heat and warm slightly.
2. Add vegeset powder, chai, vanilla and sugar. Whisk for 5-10 mins until the liquid comes to the boil. 
3. Reduce to a simmer and stir gently for a few minutes ensuring there are no clumps. Do not allow your mixture to come back to the boil.
4. Take off the heat and pour the mixture through a strainer into a jug. You can strain it twice to ensure you don't have any of the tea leaves or spices left in the liquid. HOWEVER, we're a bit obsessed with chai, so only strained it once to still get a few pretty tea leaves and spices in the finished product!
5. Pour into 6 moulds and place in the refrigerator to set. This will take a minimum of 1 hour. Depending on the shape of your mould you may be able to make more or less individual serves.
6. While you wait for your panna cotta to set, slice the pears into wedges and brush each side with butter. Place onto a hot griddle pan, grilling for two minutes on each side, to sear and caramelise the fruit. 

To serve, gentle remove the panna cotta from the mould and place in the middle of a large serving plate. To do this we hold the mould in one hand, put the plate on top of it, and then turn it upside down so that the mould is sitting flat on to the plate. Wobble the mould a little and slide it off. Gently does it! Arrange the grilled pears on top and finish with a drizzle of honey and a sprinkle of the sweet chai dukkah. Bliss! Check out Uppma's photo below for reference:

You will be the HIT at your next dinner party or fancy event! Uppma wants to give a shout out to our friends at Gourmet Living, Melbourne for the inspiration for this recipe! 

Bek from Gourmet Living created this recipe with our chai about 5 years ago. They were the first ever store to stock our products, so they have a special place in our hearts. They are a boutique gourmet providore stocking only the finest quality items in their quaint store in Templestowe, Victoria. Bek is also a chef who runs food and dessert classes in her store, she created this recipe in a masterclass she did on panna cotta!