This dairy-free Almond Milk Latte Panna Cotta is light, soft and delectable. The rich coffee flavour becomes an after-dinner ‘special coffee’ dessert when smothered with an amazing cinnamon brandy syrup. Just try saying no! Its a deceptively simple dessert to create and is the ultimate make-ahead sweet ending to impress your dinner guests with.
I’d had never tried almond milk so when my very generous friend Carine at sweetashoney.co offered me some Almond Breeze Almond Milk I was very keen to try it. And its really quite lovely! My daughter has quickly become addicted to the chocolate flavoured almond milk, and I’m very much enjoying both the plain and vanilla unsweetened flavours on my morning cereal. I was curious to see what this new discovery would be like to cook with. Magnificent it turns out!
Originally this was going to be a vanilla almond milk panna cotta (which I made by the way and it was delicious) but I had coffee with a Paleo friend on the weekend and she lamented the fact the cafe we were at did not serve almond milk for her latte. Ding, recipe inspiration! And such a shame, it meant making, and eating, more panna cotta. But this is such a quick and straight-forward (and yum!) recipe, it really wasn’t any hardship at all.
This coffee-rich almond milk panna cotta is delicious just as it is. But, oh, the deliciousness of the cinnamon brandy syrup! When poured over the almond milk latte panna cotta, its like having a liquer coffee in a soft, custard-like dessert. Divine! It really makes this dessert something special. My Mum polished one off in a matter of minutes and decided it was a bit like a ‘soft cappuccino’.
(As a side note, this is now my new favourite syrup and I will be making it time and time again to serve over vanilla ice-cream, apple crumble or apple pie…)
Being made with almond milk this latte panna cotta is light and soft. Its by no means creamy and rich like panna cotta usually is, but then you don’t expect it to be because its diary-free, and almost fat-free. But the texture is still wonderfully smooth and decadent, just like an original panna cotta. As if dairy and nearly fat-free wasn’t enough of a selling point, because almond milk is naturally quite sweet, you don’t need to add much sugar at all to this dessert. A quarter cup of sugar was all I used for 4 servings.
Almond Milk has now firmly cemented its place on our regular shopping list, if for no other reason than I want to be able to make more of these delightful panna cotta!
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Serves: 4
- 2 cups plain Almond Breeze Almond Milk
- ¼ cup fine sugar
- 2 tsp instant coffee powder
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 tsp gelatine
- 2 tbsp soft brown sugar
- 5 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp brandy
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp water (extra)
- 1 tsp butter (optional)
- Put ¼ cup of the almond milk into a bowl and sprinkle over the gelatine. Leave to sit and swell for 10 minutes.
- In a large bowl beat the egg yolks with a whisk for 2-3 minutes until pale and fluffy.
- Pour the remaining almond milk, sugar and coffee powder into a pot and stir over a medium heat to dissolve the sugar. Heat until almost boiling but do not boil. The pot will begin to steam but there should be no bubbles forming in the milk.
- Remove the pot from the heat. Carefully pour a little of the milk mixture into the egg yolks and whisk quickly. Gradually pour the in the rest of the milk, a quarter cup at a time, whisking continuously.
- Return the mixture to the pot and the pot to the heat and cook gently, stirring constantly, for 3-4 minutes until the mixture thickens slightly and almost boils again. Do not allow to boil. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Set a pot of water on to heat and bring the water to a simmer. Set the bowl with the gelatine over the pot and stir to dissolve the gelatine. Once dissolved, stir the gelatine through the milk mixture.
- Strain the mixture through a fine sieve, or colander lined with muslin, into a pouring jug.
- Pour into ½ cup moulds and refrigerate for at least 5 hours or overnight.
- Place the sugar, water, brandy and cinnamon into a small pot and warm over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes to dissolve the sugar.
- Drop in the butter, if using, and stir until melted and combined.
- Mix the cornstarch and extra water into a paste in a small bowl. Pour this into the syrup and stir over the heat for another 2 minutes.
- Set aside to cool before pouring over the panna cotta.
To unmould the panna cotta once set, allow it to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes, or set it in a dish of warm water for a few minutes to loosen the sides. Gently turn the ramekin on its side and roll the ramekin in your hand, letting gravity gently work the panna cotta away from the sides of the ramekin. Put the ramekin on the bench, and place the serving plate upside down on top of the ramekin. Quickly turn both over so the ramekin is now upside down on the serving plate. The panna cotta should slip out, but if it doesn't, hold both the plate and ramekin between your hands and give them a firm but gentle shake to cause the panna cotta to drop on to the plate.
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