Milk Tea Panna Cotta with Brown Sugar Boba

As someone who is very much boba milk tea-obsessed, a panna cotta version is something that's been floating around in my head for quite some time, but I never got around to making it - until now! This dessert is a panna cotta that is a creamy and decadent take on a Hong Kong-style milk tea, and the topping - tapioca pearls doused in a brown sugar syrup - takes things to the next level.

I didn't want to bother with the potentially finicky process of unmolding the panna cottas, so I just picked some cute jars to put them in. But if you want to try unmolding, I would recommend lightly buttering your dish before pouring in the liquid mix.

Milk Tea Panna Cotta with Brown Sugar Boba

adapted from The Flavor Bender

Ingredients

For the panna cotta:

3 tbsp water

1 package gelatin powder (0.25oz or 8g)

3 Lipton black tea bags

12g looseleaf Ceylon Orange Pekoe tea

1 1/2 cups milk

1/3 cup brown sugar

Pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

For the brown sugar boba:

1/2 cup dry tapioca pearls

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 tbsp water

Instructions

1. Place the 3tbsp water in a bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over the surface. Mix with a toothpick to saturate the gelatin in the water. Let it sit for at least 10 minutes to let the gelatin bloom (absorb the water and swell up).

2. Place the milk in a saucepan. Heat the milk over medium heat, with the lid on.

3. When the milk comes to a simmer, immediately turn off the heat and add the tea leaves.

4. Stir the tea leaves in the milk. Cover the pot and let the tea steep for 15 minutes.

5. Strain the milk into a separate container. Gently press the tea leaves to extract any leftover milk. You should get about 1 ¼ cups of tea infused milk.

6. Wash the saucepan and add the milk back into it. Add the sugar, bloomed gelatin, salt and vanilla.

7. Heat the mixture over medium heat, while stirring, until the sugar and gelatin are dissolved. Do not let the mixture come to a boil. Once the mixture is fully dissolved, remove the saucepan from the heat.

8. Stir in the whipping cream, and then transfer the milk into a separate container.

9. Prepare 6 serving dishes that have at least a 1/2 cup capacity. Divide the panna cotta mixture between the six dishes. Cover each dish with plastic wrap and place them on a tray, then transfer this tray into the fridge and allow the panna cotta to set overnight.

10. On the day of serving, prepare your boba. In a saucepan, boil the dry tapioca pearls in water according to package instructions until fully cooked. (If you're using E-Fa brand pearls like me, this will mean boiling them for 15 minutes.) Strain the water out but keep the boba in your saucepan.

11. Add your brown sugar and 3 tbsp water to the saucepan with the boba in it. Stir this mixture over medium heat until the sugar has fully dissolved and the syrup begins to thicken. Turn off the heat once your syrup has reached your desired thickness, keeping in mind that the syrup will thicken a bit more once cooled. 

12. To serve, spoon some of the brown sugar boba over each panna cotta, including the syrup as desired. 

The panna cotta will keep in the fridge for up to 10 days if tightly wrapped; however, the boba must be eaten within 3 hours of being prepared, and cannot be refrigerated (it will harden and become stale).

 Don't be intimidated by the number of steps involved in this recipe - the overall process is quite simple, and does not require any complex skills. The payoff, I think, is also well worth the process, as this has become one of my favorite tea-flavored desserts. Hope you give this a try, and enjoy!