Osmanthus Panna Cotta

This osmanthus panna cotta is incredibly light, creamy, and infused with a delicate peachy note.

Over the past year, I’ve worked with a special ingredient that I can’t wait to share with you, osmanthus. Since discovering osmanthus via osmanthus tea from Ben Gong and osmanthus jelly from Qin West Noodle, I’ve been playing around with infusing the flavor of osmanthus in different desserts. Osmanthus fragrans, an evergreen shrub, is native to Asia with wonderful fragrant flowers reminiscent of peaches. For the first osmanthus dessert, I’m sharing my osmanthus panna cotta. This panna cotta is so light, creamy, and infused with a delicate peachy note. It pairs well with fresh strawberries and peaches. 

Ingredient Notes

• Osmanthus: osmanthus fagrans is sold as dried flowers used for tea and baking. Find a good brand with good reviews. You can find osmanthus on Weee! or online.
• Gelatin sheet: Gelatin sheet or leaf works similar to granular gelatin found in your local grocery store. I love using gelatin sheet because it produces desserts with purer flavors and there is minimal chance of undissolved granules. Instead of weighing out the powder, you can count the sheets. My favorite brand is PerfectaGel with platinum strength. You can find them easily on Amazon. If you can't find the sheet, look for plain, unflavored gelatin, which is usually found among the baking supplies. You can successfully substitute sheet gelatin for powdered gelatin in any recipe by using the following ratio. 1 (0.25 oz.) envelope granulated gelatin = 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin = 3 sheets leaf gelatin. The gelatin needs to be softened prior to cooking in a process called blooming. Bloom the gelatin or soak it in cold water for 5 minutes.

How to Make Panna Cotta

• Bring a large sauce pan with heavy cream, milk, and sugar to a gentle boil over medium heat. Add osmanthus, stir, and steep for 10 minutes. Strain the osmanthus cream.
• Five minute into steeping, bloom the gelatin. In a medium bowl, fill with water, and add strips of cut gelatin leaves. Let them bloom or become soft, about 5 minutes. Squeeze out excess water and add them to the warm cream. Whisk until they dissolve.
• Divide the cream among non-reactive cups. You’ll get a little bit more than ½ cup per serving. Let them cool for 30 minutes. Refrigerate the osmanthus panna cotta for a minimum of 6 hours to set. 
• To make the osmanthus syrup, in a small saucepan, combine water, sugar, and osmanthus flowers. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the temperature to medium-low and let the liquid reduce and become syrupy, about 15-18 minutes. Strain the osmanthus syrup into a clean, lidded container. Discard solids or you can retain some for texture.

For more panna cotta inspiration:

• Hojicha panna cotta
• Fig leaf panna cotta
• Orange blossom panna cotta with figs
• Blood orange panna cotta
• Elderflower panna cotta with strawberries

Osmanthus Panna Cotta

This osmanthus panna cotta is incredibly light, creamy, and infused with a delicate peachy note.

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Asian, Italian

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Set Time: 6 hours hours

Servings: 6 servings

Author: Vy Tran

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 cups heavy cream
• ▢ 1 cup 2% milk
• ▢ ¼ cup and 2 tablespoons sugar
• ▢ 3 tablespoons dried osmanthus flowers
• ▢ 3  gelatin sheets, PerfectaGel titanium strength

Osmanthus Syrup

• ▢ ½ cup sugar
• ▢ ¼ cup water
• ▢ 2 tablespoons dried osmanthus flowers

For Serving

• ▢ 1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced

Instructions

• In a saucepan combine heavy cream, milk, and sugar and cook over medium heat for 7-8 minutes until the mixture starts to simmer at the edges. Add osmanthus into the pan and give it a quick stir.
• Do not remove from heat. Cover and steep for 10 minutes. Strain the osmanthus infused cream over a clean saucepan. Discard solids.
• Five minute into steeping, bloom the gelatin. Cut the gelatin sheets into small pieces. Soak the gelatin pieces in water to let them bloom or become soft, about 5 minutes.
• Squeeze out the water from the softened gelatin leaves and add them into the warm cream. Whisk until they dissolve.
• Divide the cream into six molds, about ½ cup each, and allow to cool to room temperature for 30 minutes. Cover with plastic before placing in the fridge to set for at least 6 hours.
• To make the osmanthus syrup, in a small saucepan, combine water, sugar, and osmanthus flowers. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the temperature to medium-low and let the liquid reduce and become syrupy, about 15-18 minutes. Strain the osmanthus syrup into a clean, lidded container. Discard solids (you could leave a few flowers for texture).
• When ready to serve panna cotta, dip each mold into a bowl of hot water for about 5-10 seconds then turn them onto a plate. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of osmanthus syrup and top with fresh strawberries.

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