Lemongrass panna cotta with poached pineapples and yuzu granita
May the 4th be with you! Our families are pretty big Star Wars fans. My son went through a phase where he was obsessed with anything Star Wars. He had Star Wars decals on his wall, Star Wars Lego sets, he even had a Death star night light hanging on the wall in his bedroom. I made him little felt dolls of Star Wars characters so that he could do some pretend play with them. Luckily for him, I enjoy Star Wars as well so it was fun to create each new character.
Since then, each year on May 4th, Alice and I make a little Star Wars treat for our families to enjoy.
This year, we decided to make Lemongrass panna cotta and decorate them into little storm troopers. The panna cotta is inspired by a dessert I had recently at Toast Kitchen and Bakery in Newport Beach. I ate there with some ladies from church for OC restaurant week and all of us ended our meals with their lemongrass panna cotta. We all agreed that it was the best thing we ate there. The panna cotta was fragrant and creamy. The Yuzu granita and pineapples on top were sweet and tangy and helped to cut through the creaminess of the panna cotta. It was perfect. I knew right away that I had to try to recreate this at home.
There are three components to this dish but each one is very easy to make. There was one ingredient we had never used before and that was yuzu. Yuzu is a Japanese citrus fruit. It can be difficult to find because it is mainly grown in Japan, Korea, and China, but the juice can be found in most asian grocery stores. It is extremely fragrant but also super sour and tart, which makes it a perfect complement to the sweet and creamy panna cotta. Honey poached pineapples add a nice bite to the dish.
To make our panna cotta storm troopers, we melted some black chocolate melts and piped the face onto the panna cotta. We used the granita and the pineapples to represent the icy planet of Hoth.
This dish is light and refreshing and has a flavor that will be hard to forget. Have a little fun with your family this weekend. Watch some Star Wars movies, eat some fun treats, and May the 4th be with you!
Lemongrass Panna Cotta with Poached Pineapples and Yuzu Granita
Ingredients
Lemongrass Panna Cotta
- 2 Tbsp water
- 1 Tbsp powdered gelatin or one gelatin envelope
- 2 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 5 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 stalks lemongrass cut into long pieces then bruised
Poached Pineapples
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 large pineapple diced
- 1 tsp yuzu juice
- 1/4 cup honey
Yuzu Granita
- 6 Tbsp yuzu juice
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
Instructions
Lemongrass Panna Cotta
- Add water to gelatin and stir to combine. Let it bloom for a few minutes
- In a saucepan over medium heat, bring heavy cream, milk, sugar, and lemongrass to a boil. Turn off heat, cover with a lid, and let the mixture steep for 1 hour.
- Gently warm up the mixture and add gelatin. Stir until gelatin has completely dissolved.
- Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl. Place bowl on top of an ice bath to cool.
- Pour mixture into cups/ramekins/molds and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
Poached Pineapples
- In a saucepan over medium heat, bring honey and water to a boil. Add in pineapple and yuzu juice. Simmer for 15 minutes.
- Allow pineapples to cool then refrigerate
Yuzu Granita
- Place water, sugar, and yuzu juice into a saucepan and simmer on medium heat until sugar is completely dissolved.
- Pour liquid into a shallow pan. Once slightly cooled, freeze for 2 hours, scraping the granita with a fork every 30 minutes.
- Serve immediately or cover with plastic wrap and keep frozen.
For the Panna cotta
For the poached pineapples
For the yuzu granita
