Earl Grey Panna Cotta

We’ve been making Panna Cotta for years. It’s one of those recipes that is fancy and special, but is quite easy to make! It takes planning ahead as panna cotta has to chill for at least four hours, but that is the charm as it takes about 10 minutes to make and then can be put in the fridge and forgotten about until serving time! 

Earl Grey Panna Cotta with Blueberry compote brings together a traditional Italian Panna Cotta with the traditional morning cup of British Earl Grey Tea! As a British breakfast tea, Earl Grey Tea is usually enjoyed with sugar and milk and/or cream, so it seemed a natural fit to add this tea to a dessert full of milk, sugar, and cream! 

We first added the blueberry compote for no reason other than we had blueberries that needed to be used before they went bad! And it turns out that blueberries pair especially well with the flavors of Earl Grey Tea! 

Just What is Panna Cotta?

Panna cotta is a traditional Italian dessert that translates from Italian to English as  ‘cooked cream’. With just a few simple ingredients of cream, milk, sugar, and vanilla that are set with gelatin, the final product is rich and silky smooth. 

It is easy to flavor this sweetened milk recipe with just about anything! In this recipe, we flavor that mixture by steeping tea right in the warm milk mixture. 

Panna Cotta is often called an eggless custard because it has the texture of custard without using any eggs. Instead, the gelatin acts as a thickening agent. 

Be sure to check out our Saffron Panna Cotta Recipe as well! 

Panna Cotta Ingredients

Earl Grey Tea.

Earl Grey Tea may be one of the most recognized English teas! It is a blend of a strong black tea (usually Assam or a similar Indian tea) that has been flavored with the oil of bergamot. Bergamot is a citrus fruit that has the appearance of a cross between an orange and a lemon with the flavors of grapefruit and lime. 

SpiceTopia’s Earl Grey Tea is Certified Organic, Fair Trade, and Kosher and is the embodiment of this British Classic Tea.

Find this loose-leaf tea and over 100 more at SpiceTopia!

Salt. Just a pinch of salt helps to balance the sweetness of any dessert. Our everyday salt is SpiceTopia’s Pacific Flake Sea Salt. 

Sugar. This recipe calls for white sugar. We like using raw sugar. Coconut sugar will also work. You can also use brown sugar, but keep in mind it will affect the color of your panna cotta.  

Dairy. Panna Cotta translates into cooked cream. While traditional panna cotta is made with all cream, over the years we’ve settled on the ratio of ½ cream & ½ whole milk. This lightens it up while still creating an indulgent creamy dessert! 

That being said, any combination of dairy will work. Dairy combinations we’ve tried with success: 

• All milk 
• All cream
• All half & half
• Half cream and half half & half (trying saying that really fast five times!)
• Half cream & half buttermilk
• Sour cream thinned down with milk 
• Yogurt thinned down with cream

You get the picture– just about any dairy combination works. We do suggest sticking with the full-fat versions of dairy products as they produce a creamy panna cotta. 

Can I make Panna Cotta with plant-based milks? 

If you would like to make a dairy-free panna cotta, several plant-based milk alternatives work better than others. 

Using soy milk or rice milk has not turned out well in this recipe. It tends to separate when heated and the texture in the final product was more jello than creamy. Soy milk also produces a rather gray panna cotta! 

A combination of Oat milk or almond milk with coconut milk turned out well with this recipe. Be sure to use unflavored and unsweetened oat and almond milks. Use the coconut milk found in a can (instead of the refrigerated coconut milk beverage). Combining half oat or almond milk with half coconut milk mimics the fat content found in a dairy milk and cream combination and creates a creamy panna cotta. 

Unflavored Gelatin. Unflavored Gelatin is a thickening agent made of tiny granules that have no color or flavor. It’s like jello without the sugar and color. It can come in a box with individual envelopes of gelatin or in a cardboard canister with loose gelatin. 

This recipe calls for 2 ¼ teaspoons of unflavored gelatin. Panna Cotta should have a wobbly creamy texture. Use too much gelatin and your panna cotta will be stiff and hard. Don’t use enough and your dessert doesn’t set up. Keep in mind that an envelope of gelatin powder may contain anywhere from ¼ - ½ ounce, so do not rely on the envelope having the correct amount of gelatin. Pour it out into a small bowl and measure the exact amount needed. 

Vanilla Extract. Just a bit of Vanilla Extract helps to bring out the flavors of the tea. You could also use the caviar from ¼ of a whole Vanilla Bean instead of Vanilla Extract. 

Want to make your own Vanilla Extract? Check out SpiceTopia’s Guide to Making Your Own Homemade Vanilla Extract Recipe!

Nutmeg. 

Just a pinch of Ground Nutmeg or a few passes over the grater of Whole Nutmeg adds an extra layer of flavor to the blueberry compote. You won’t necessarily taste the nutmeg, but you will notice a little bit of something extra. 

How to Make Panna Cotta

As we mentioned above, making panna cotta isn’t difficult. Creating a basic panna cotta takes just four easy steps. We’ve added an extra step of infusing the milk mixture with tea as well as creating an easy blueberry compote. Again, neither of these added steps are difficult! 

1. Bloom the gelatin. One cup of cold milk is placed in a bowl and the gelatin is sprinkled over the milk. This “wakes” up the gelatin. Let this sit while you move on with the rest of the recipe. You’ll notice the mixture turns into something that looks like a brain! Give it a stir after that happens and let it continue sitting. 
2. Make the cream mixture. While your gelatin is blooming, heat the remaining milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla together in a saucepan until hot and it just barely simmers.
3. Infuse the cream mixture. Remove the cream from the heat and add tea in a Bouquet Garni Bag or a Tea Infuser to that mixture. Allow to steep for five minutes. 
4. Add the gelatin. After removing the tea from the cream mixture, place the pot back on the lowest heat. Add the milk with the gelatin to the saucepan. Whisk until smooth. Make sure the mixture is completely smooth and that there are no little crystals remaining. Once the gelatin is added, do not allow the mixture to come to a boil as this will kill the gelatin. 
5. Portion, set, and serve. Pour your panna cotta mixture into individual ramekins and place in the refrigerator to set for a minimum of 4 hours. To serve, top with blueberry compote.

This recipe calls for less sugar than many American panna cotta recipes. We like the less sweet, more traditional Italian version. If you aren’t sure about the desired sweetness level, taste your panna cotta before it goes into its ramekin, jar, or glass. If it isn’t sweet enough at that time, the mixture is still warm enough to dissolve sugar, so add a tablespoon at a time until you reach the sweetness you desire. 

When using loose-leaf tea (learn why loose-leaf tea is our thing), you will need to use either a tea infuser or a bouquet garni bag. Add the tea to the bag or infuser. Then place it in the pot to infuse. 

Let’s Get Cooking!