I don’t make pannacotta often. Mainly because I find it quite boring. But when I do, it’s no ordinary pannacotta my friend. It’s the real deal. And that’s exactly what you can expect with this recipe- it’s the real deal…and it is pretty damn good!

If you have never heard or tried a pannacotta before, let me be the first to introduce it to you. Pannacotta is an Italian dessert that is basically like a set sweetened cream, with a smooth, silky texture. It is incredibly easy to make and one of the few “foolproof” desserts that you can’t really mess up. I mean..you’d have to try incredibly hard to do that. However, that’s not the best bit. The best bit about pannacotta is that you can flavour it with anything you like. So it is essentially a blank canvas of a dessert and you all know I love my blank canvas ;)

With the onset of Diwali, an Indian festival of lights, I wanted to create a dessert that reminded me of home. Chai (a hindi term for tea) is by no means an “Indian” flavour. Tea is universal. However, the way we prepare chai in India is what makes it so unique and that’s exactly the essence I wanted to capture here.

Very few of you will actually take the time to read this and if you’re one of the few, who hasn’t already scrolled to the recipe directly, let me walk you through the process of how I created this dessert.

You see, masala chai (spiced tea) is a staple in pretty much every Indian/Nepalese household. My dad starts his day with a cup of kadak chai (a strong spiced tea), followed by a few casual cups throughout the day. It’s a part of every person’s life, living in the Indian subcontinent.

While I don’t relate to chai as strongly or even like to drink it very often, I certainly love the sentiment this particular ingredient carries in my culture. Chai is not just a hot beverage. For many people, it’s a sentiment. It’s a part of their roots. Many a stories have been shared, and many a friendships have been made, over a cup of a simple kadak chai.

Growing up, I absolutely loved having chai toast. It was quite literally my favourite pre-breakfast snack. 2 pieces of buttered toast, cut diagonally into 4 and a cup of steaming hot chai. I would dunk each triangle of this buttery, toasty bread into my chai, let it soak up all the flavours and goodness and just as it’s about to fall apart, I would then dunk it into my mouth. Ahhh, bliss! There is a fine line between the toast being “too dry” and “too soaked” and everybody who has ever enjoyed this simple pleasure of chai toast, knows exactly where to draw that line. I never really drank the chai after I had finished up all my toast. I didn’t like the idea of drinking up tiny bits of toast that would occasionally fall off into the chai. To me, it was that combination of hot chai, butter and soft yet slightly crunchy bread that really hit the sweet spot.

This sentiment, this combination of chai, butter and crunch is what inspired me to create this dessert.

Let’s talk about this chai pannacotta for a second.

It is quite a unique pannacotta in it’s own way. Instead of just infusing the tea with the cream, I have first made a kadak chai itself, and then used this chai in the base for my pannacotta. The flavour is a lot stronger, and well rounded this way and just seems more authentic to me. Please do me a favour, and do not use earl grey or english breakfast tea here. Only use plain black tea. Darjeeling tea, if you can find. That’s the best.

I have also used toasted milk powder in the pannacotta to replicate a subtle caramelisation of toast pieces that would fall into the chai. I couldn’t add butter so the milk powder assists in creating a subtle smooth, almost velvety mouthfeel that butter otherwise would provide.

I guess if you had to imagine, it’s like I took the leftover chai after my dunking toast routine, strained it and made it into a pannacotta. That’s the feeling, right there.

The pate sablee or biscuit adds a textural difference to the pannacotta, and also reminds me of the feeling of having chai-biscuit, another popularly loved chai combination. It’s the same dunking routine and the biscuits are almost always the buttery kind. Hence, my choice to go with pate sable which is a buttery shortbread.

The pistachio chantilly is truly optional. It was really the pastry chef in me that wanted to jazz it up but honestly, you could skip it and the dessert would work just as well. If you’re feeling fancy and wanna make a pannacotta look impressive, definitely give it a go.

Honestly, it’s such a brilliant dessert to make and so impressive. Whether you make it for Diwali, or some other occasion or just because it’s Friday, you’re gonna thoroughly enjoy this, I can promise :)

So bookmark this page if you need to, or if you’re feeling enthusiastic, get your aprons out and let’s get baking :D

Recipe

Serves: 4

Ingredients

For the chai pannacotta:

For the kadak chai

160g full fat milk
4 black tea bags or 8g black tea
2 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
1/4 tsp ginger, freshly grated

For the pannacotta

325g heavy cream, 35% fat content
130g kadak chai (from above)
40g milk powder
25g castor sugar
4g gelatine leaf

For the pate sablee (biscuit):

110g plain flour
75g unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
30g brown sugar
pinch of salt

For the pistachio chantilly:

100g mascarpone cream
50g heavy cream
15g castor sugar
40g pistachio paste

Method:

For the chai pannacotta:

Make the kadak chai first: Heat all the ingredients for the chai in a small pot over medium heat. Boil for a minute before removing from the heat. Let infuse for 10 minutes. Strain.
Make the pannacotta: Preheat oven to 160°C.
Toast the milk powder in the oven for 7-10 minutes or until golden brown. Keep aside.
Soak the gelatine leaf in cold water for 5 minutes until soft. Squeeze the excess water and keep aside.
Heat the cream, kadak chai, milk powder and sugar in a medium pot over medium heat, whisking to dissolve the milk powder completely. Stir continuously using a spatula and bring to a boil.
Strain the pannacotta mix into a mixing bowl, placed over an ice bath. Add the soaked gelatine and stir until dissolved completely. Let cool to room temperature.
Once the pannacotta mix is at room temperature, divide the mix into 4 shallow dessert glasses and refrigerate to set overnight.

For the pate sablee (biscuit):

Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix all the ingredients for pate sablee until the mixture starts to clump together, and the butter is evenly combined.
Remove the dough onto a clean work surface and use your hands to bring it together into a rough dough. Cover with clingwrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or preferably overnight.
Roll out the dough to 4mm thickness. Chill for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 170°C (fan-forced) or 180°C (deck oven).
Cut into circles using a cookie cutter 2 sizes bigger than the rim of the dessert glass.
Place onto a tray lined with silpat and bake for 10-15 mins or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely.

For the pistachio chantilly:

Using a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whisk all the ingredients to medium-stiff peaks. Refrigerate until use.

Assemble:

At the time of serving, place a disc of pate sable on top of the pannacotta glass.
Pipe the pistachio chantilly on the sable.
Garnish with chopped pistachios. Serve immediately. Bon appetite!

Notes:

Please only use black tea for this recipe. No earl grey or english breakfast tea here.

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