Afternoon delights: Earl Grey panna cotta with caramelised mandarin 

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Afternoon delights: Earl Grey panna cotta with caramelised mandarin

By Roger Pizey

Published: | Updated:

The Earl Grey adds a fragrant scent here, while the mandarin cuts through any sweetness, adding citrus appeal. You can use the recipe without the tea, too, simply adding more vanilla and a shot of white rum. These look rather good when presented in Martini glasses. Or just made in moulds (lightly grease them before filling with the cream mix) and turned out.

SERVES 4

TEA MATCH A delicate bergamot tea to highlight the panna cotta. Try Fortnum & Mason’s Countess Gray.

500ml double cream

1 vanilla pod, split lengthways and seeds scraped

1 Earl Grey tea bag

1¾ (one and three-quarters) leaves of bronze gelatine, or 2½ (two and a half) leaves of quick-dissolving fine leaf gelatine

70g caster sugar

micro mint (or finely shredded mint leaves), to serve

FOR THE CARAMELISED MANDARIN

40g honey

60ml orange juice

1-2 mandarins, peeled and segmented

  • Place the cream in a pan with the vanilla pod and its seeds, and heat to just below boiling point. Take off the heat and add the tea bag. Leave to infuse for about 30 minutes, then remove the tea bag and vanilla pod.
  • Meanwhile soak the gelatine in iced water until soft.
  • Stir the sugar into the cream. Bring the cream back to the boil, then take it off the heat and add the soaked gelatine. Stir with a spatula until all the gelatine has melted, then strain through a fine sieve into a bowl. Place over a bowl of iced water and, using a rubber spatula, slowly and continuously stir until the mix starts to thicken. Take the bowl off the iced water and pour the mix into 4 small glasses or moulds (they need to fit just over 125ml volume).Chill the panna cottas for at least 1 hour 30 minutes, until set.
  • Simmer the honey in a pan so that the colour deepens and turns to a rich caramel. Slowly add the orange juice, then quickly add the mandarins, tossing them in the hot liquid. Remove from the heat. Pour into a heatproof container and allow to cool before serving, or chill in the fridge until needed.
  • To serve, remove the panna cottas from the fridge. Carefully spoon some caramelised mandarin segments on to the plate and decorate with the mint