Earl Grey panna cotta turns your favourite beverage into a delicious no-bake dessert. If you are a tea lover and enjoy the tangy flavour of Earl Grey you will love this panna cotta! For a creative presentation serve it in teacups!
Panna cotta is a cream based dessert solidified with gelatin. Its texture is soft but firm, and can have a wiggly quality if unmolded and plated on its own. The main flavour is obviously that of cream, but it doesn’t have to stop there. In this panna cotta we’re infusing the cream with tea leaves. The final product has an irresistible creamy Earl Grey flavour that reminds of London fog tea latte.
To make things more fun, I like to serve this panna cotta in teacups. The tea flavour is quite obvious, but eating it straight from a teacup in a way intensifies the experience. Earl Grey panna cotta is a great dessert option anytime, but if you’re looking for an afternoon treat this might just hit the right spots.
The ingredients
For detailed quantities please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
How to make Earl Grey panna cotta
In a small saucepan combine the cream, sugar, and loose leaf tea and set on medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar and cook for 7-8 minutes. Keep it on a low simmer, decrease heat if it starts to boil.
Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water and bloom for 5 minutes, until soft. Heat the milk until it almost reaches boiling temperature but remove from the heat before it does. Drain the softened gelatin and squeeze out any excess water. Stir into warm milk and dissolve. Pour the tea-flavoured cream through a fine mesh sieve and discard tea leaves. Combine the cream with the gelatin mixture.
Divide into serving cups or moulds. Chill in the fridge for 2 hours or until firm to the touch. You can decorate it with dried edible flowers, but that’s optional.
Recipe notes
Following the standard quantities in the recipe card, one batch makes 4 portions. Since I served mine in teacups, I divided it into 2 and got basically double portions. Panna cotta is filling, so I would not recommend having so much especially after a meal. Choose small teacups or fill them a bit less, unless you want a big serving.
I prefer loose leaf tea as it gets in direct contact with the cream, making for a stronger infusion. Teabags can be used, but the thickness of the cream may clog the bag, not infusing the tea fully. If you wish to use teabags because you don’t have a strainer, use 2 or even 3 (much depends on types) until you see that the cream gets a vivid tea colour.
Panna cotta keeps in the fridge up to 5 days. So you can easily store leftovers for later, or you can even make it a couple of days ahead and serve it without problems. Remember to always keep it airtight and refrigerated at all times. This dessert does not freeze well – the texture may change upon thawing so I would not recommend that.
More panna cotta recipes?
I am proud to say I come from Piemonte, the region in Italy that invented panna cotta, so I make it very often. Here’s some more inspiration:
- Biscoff panna cotta
- Nutella panna cotta
- Saffron panna cotta
- Liquorice panna cotta
- Blueberry lavender panna cotta
And for more Earl Grey deliciousness:
If you liked my Earl Grey panna cotta please leave a comment below. Pin the recipe to Pinterest if you want to save this recipe for later!
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Earl Grey Panna Cotta
Ingredients
- 250 ml cream
- 60 ml milk
- 4 g gelatin sheets
- 40 g sugar
- 1 tsp Earl Grey tea loose leaf
Instructions
- Combine the cream, sugar and loose leaf tea in a small saucepan and set on medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar and cook for 7-8 minutes on a low simmer. Decrease heat if necessary.
- Soak gelatin sheets in cold water and bloom for 5 minutes, until soft. Heat the milk until it almost reaches boiling temperature but remove from the heat before it does. Drain the softened gelatin, squeeze out any excess water, add to warm milk and stir to dissolve.
- Pour tea-flavoured cream through a fine mesh sieve to discard tea leaves. Combine the cream with the gelatin mixture. Divide into serving cups or moulds. Chill in the fridge for 4 hours or until firm to the touch.
