thai tea panna cotta with brown sugar boba
Recipe by @punikasayshi of @featuresofcomfort
i’m back again with some cozy flavors to welcome fall! what’s better than the warm aromatics of thai tea infused with the rounded sweetness of evaporated milk, served in a cutie tea cup? the answer is nothing, but wait! what if it comes in the form of a silky smooth panna cotta? well, i’ve died and gone to thai heaven!
i really had fun messing around with my favorite childhood drink, the thai milk tea or ชาเย็น (“cha-yen” literally means “cold tea”), can be overly sweet as a drink as i’ve gotten older, but it is perfect turned into a dessert! even better, i decided to top it off with some chewy brown sugar boba (which you can make from scratch but life is short so I’m going with the ready-made kind) and a cheeky drizzle of condensed milk for good measure.
(serves approx. 2-4)
ingredients
- 2 cups of water
- 4 tsp of thai tea leaves
- 1 1/4 cup of evaporated milk
- 1/4 cup of sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste (or extract)
- 1 packet of gelatin
- 1/4 salt
- 1/4 cup of brown sugar tapioca pearls (optional)
- sweetened condense milk (to drizzle)
directions
- bring 1 3/4 cup of water to a boil and add in the tea tea leaves, cover and bring down to medium heat for 5 minutes, then bring down to simmer for at least 30 minutes. taste for strength, it should be strong and aromatic!
- filter out the leaves with a fine mesh sieve. place the tea back into the pot and add evaporated milk on medium heat. stir from time to time to avoid the milk cooking.
- meanwhile dissolve gelatin in remaining 1/4 cup of water. when the milk tea mixture starts to bubble on the sides, add in sugar, salt, vanilla paste, and gelatin mixture. stir until all the sugar has dissolved.
- pour mixture into serving cups through a fine mesh sieve for extra silkiness! make sure there are no bubbles remaining on the surface. allow to cool for 10 minutes and place in fridge for at least 2 hours or until set.
- if you want a little something extra for decorating, add in some boba! follow the instructions on the brown sugar tapioca pearl package.
- once the boba pearls are done, sprinkle a generous amount of brown sugar over them and mix until the sugar has dissolved and gives a glossy syrupy look to the boba
- once the panna cotta has set, spoon the boba and brown sugar syrup on top, finish with a cutie drizzle of sweetened condensed milk and, voila! you’ve made yourself a thai tea panna cotta!