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Saturday, July 19, 2008

Matcha Panna Cotta with Elderflower Syrup ~ 抹茶義式奶酪佐接骨木花糖漿

matcha panna cotta

I told you that I’m a fan of this ultra creamy Italian dessert so how could I let the summer pass without making any ;p This time, with some Japanese flair. As I was flipping through Aroma by Mandy Aftel and Daniel Patterson, I found a recipe for matcha panna cotta. The combination of the ingredients sounded really intriguing – honey, cream, and matcha! I found the idea of adding matcha to this classic Italian dessert completely seductive - two of my favorite things in one dessert!

Matcha (pronounced mac-cha) is Japanese for powdered green tea, normally from better leaves, so it can be quite expensive. Most high-quality tea purveyors carry powdered green tea, but you can also order it online or by mail. Matcha is best known for its antioxidant property, which is beneficial for one to stay young and healthy - some even crown it the term “fountain of youth”! Thus according to Chinese Medicine that people with the “cool” body type (me!) should stay away from green tea (apparently it belongs to the cool food group) but I find it rather difficult so I figure if I consume it in moderation then it should be harmless =)

It has been gaining popularity in the US in recent years, although it is widely popular in Asia for years! Incorporating matcha into desserts and pastries is a trend that has been building momentum in the world of sweets too! Since I don’t like anything that is overly sweet, I was happy with the taste of this dessert - rich, delicate, but only slightly sweeten. The recipe calls for milk and cream (rather than just cream) so it’s not as heavy as the traditional ones (the bitterness of the green tea does its part of cutting down the creaminess). I thought the slight bitterness of green tea pairs well with the lychee flavored honey, giving this creamy dessert a subtle fruity note. I served it with elderflower syruphttp, which I have been enjoying by adding to sparkling water since I got it hold of it from this place! It tastes somewhat like lychee and with such wonderful fragrance! Decoration-wise, I added a little dazzle a.k.a gold leaf to the custard but I think sweeten azuki beans would go well with it too.

matcha

Besides matcha panna cotta, I’m also toying with the idea of mixing it into a financier or macaron batter, churning it into an ice cream, using it to flavour buttercream for cupcakes, and combining it with cocoa powder to make truffles. I know it will be just as scrumptious~

Btw, you may enjoy these variations too!
panna cotta with sesame sauce
orange espresso panna cotta with coffee gelee delight
jasmine pearl infused panna cotta with kumquat compote
vanilla panna cotta with strawberry coulis

Matcha Panna Cotta with Elderflower Syrup
Makes four 4-ounce ramekins

1½ cups whole milk
½ cup heavy cream
¼ cup lychee flavor honey
1 tbs caster sugar
1½ tbs matcha
3g leaf gelatine
2tbs elderflower syrup
1tbs water

Prep:
- Soak the gelatin, let soften in cold water for 5 minutes, and then strain off the water.

I thought you should know:
- Matcha changes its color and may be less vibrant when cooked.
- Elderflower infused syrup has been enjoyed by many in the summer. It makes deliciously refreshing drinks. It can be dilute with pure water, bubbling with soda water or sparkling mineral water and it adds a nice twist to Champagne too. It marries well with teas & milk too. Also a wonderful topping for Crepes, waffles, yogurt, baked goods and ice cream just to name a few =)

Bring milk and cream together in a saucepan and cook until almost to a boil over medium heat. Squeeze out the gelatine, discarding the soaking water, then add the gelatine into the milk mixture, stir to dissolve, cook slightly then remove from the heat. Whisk in the honey and sugar, stir until completely dissolved. Mix the matcha with a little hot milk mixture, then add it to the saucepan, stir until combined. Set the saucepan over a larger bowl filled with ice water, stirring gently until it starts to thicken, 2 minutes.

Pass the mixture through a fine mesh strainer. Divide the mixture into the ramekins and place into the fridge to set, about 2 to 3 hours.

To serve, dip the ramekins into a bowl of hot water to loosen the panna cotta, turn it out on to a plate, leave them for 1 minute then gently lift. If they stick, try gently shaking the molds, and tapping their bottoms. Spoon some elderflower syrup (diluted w/ water) over the panna cotta and serve.

不久前我向大家坦承我是這道義大利家常甜點的粉絲。炎炎夏日﹐是這甜點再度粉默登場的時候了。這一次我要做我一直想嘗試的和風風味。食譜是在翻Mandy Aftel and Daniel Patterson著作的Aroma時看到的。天呀﹐抹茶加上奶酪對我而言是多麼致命的誘人呀﹗更不用說那抹茶、蜜糖、鮮奶油的組合聽起來是那麼的與眾不同及新鮮﹗

採用覆下栽培所培育而成的的茶葉加工後﹐再放進石臼所得的超微粉體就是抹茶。日本綠茶的一種﹐可上等茶葉加上繁複的製造過程﹐使價格比起其他的綠茶高。擁有豐厚又雍容的口感,鮮爽又回甘的滋味。我偏愛它有如翡翠晶瑩的深綠給人視覺上的美感﹐沉迷於它享用過後於鼻尖縈繞不去的芳香餘韻﹐更迷戀它與乳酪、甜品混合在一起的雅致滋味﹐讓我無窮回味。

DETAILS

現在喝茶很風行﹐要購買抹茶根本不是難事。上等抹茶的價格可不便宜但是物有所值。雖然近年在美國常看到它的蹤影也越來越受西方人喜愛了﹐但在亞洲風行多年﹐說它是最受歡迎的日本茶應該沒人會反對。除了被製造成美味無窮的冰點、蛋糕﹐抹茶的獨特風味及極高的營養價值是讓它穩坐最受歡迎寶座的原因。抹茶具有極高的蛋白質、氨基酸、維生素、礦物質和葉綠素的含量很高。具有清熱解毒、生津止渴、抗疲勞、醒酒消醉、降血壓、防衰老、明目清肝的保健功能。雖然具有這麼多保健功能﹐據中醫師說抹茶屬寒涼物﹐體質屬涼性(很不幸﹐我就是 >__<)的人應少喝為妙。多喝會造成血氣不流暢﹐臉色蒼白。可我想久久吃一些應該okay的。。。。。。哼﹐我不管啦﹐我就是要吃﹗

這是一道讓人味覺、視覺為之一亮的清涼甜點。加了抹茶的奶酪吃起來有著淡淡的抹茶味。外觀看起來綿密紮實﹐用湯匙輕輕一舀﹐發現奶酪在輕輕晃動﹐嫩嫩的QQ的像布丁。洋溢著濃郁的奶香味及荔枝蜜的清雅果香味﹐可又完美保留了抹茶的迷人風味﹐擁有無比的細緻柔滑綿密幕斯似的口感﹐後韻悠長﹐讓人一口接一口停不下來。搭配清新怡人的接骨木糖漿﹐甜甜的果香就像幸福的圍繞。那柔雅清新的花香﹐酸酸甜甜的口感﹐讓人宛如置身在英國鄉村的自然景色中。加了少許的食用金箔來點綴﹐使這道典雅的甜點頓時變的雍容華麗起來了。

實在太滿意這個抹茶奶酪的味道了﹐以至我腦袋瓜裡正玩味著下一次的抹茶實驗。該做成抹茶冰淇淋、還是抹茶馬其龍、maybe抹茶金融家小蛋糕又或是抹茶風味巧克力慕斯﹐不論如何我知道它擁有滋味無窮的百搭潛力﹗

如果你像我一樣愛吃奶酪﹐你可能也會喜歡這幾個奶酪甜點:
意式奶凍佐芝麻醬
柳橙咖啡奶凍芭菲
茉綠奶凍配糖漬金桔
意式香草奶凍佐草莓醬

matcha panna cotta

抹茶義式奶酪佐接骨木花糖漿
4個4oz份量

1 ½杯 全脂牛奶
½杯 鮮奶油/淡忌廉
¼杯 荔枝蜜糖
1湯匙 細砂糖
1 ½湯匙 宇治抹茶
3g 明膠片/明膠粉
2湯匙 接骨木花糖漿
1湯匙 清水
食用金箔 隨意

事前準備:
- 明膠片用冰水泡軟之後擠掉水分,備用。如果用明膠粉: 將明膠粉倒入水裡 (2大匙) 泡脹後備用。

我覺得你應該知道的事:
- 抹茶遇熱後顏色會變的偏綠黃而不是鮮艷的綠茶色。而品質越上等的抹茶﹐顏色越是深綠。
- 甜美、芳香的接骨木花(又名白桂花)被歐洲人稱為萬靈藥。有強化身體防禦功能,對流行性感冒有療效。接骨木漿果味道甜甜酸酸並且帶微苦,但它蘊含豐富及珍貴的礦物質及維他命。它的果子於秋天收割後被製成果醬跟糖漿,而糖漿尤其受到大家的喜愛。在歐洲﹐加了接骨木糖漿的有氣泡礦泉水是夏日不能缺的飲品喔!糖漿加香檳也是很受歡迎的特飲﹐跟花果茶﹑奶類飲品也很相配。佐法式可麗餅﹑鬆餅﹑冰淇淋也很美味。

把牛奶、鮮奶油、混合裝進小鍋裡,開中火煮到快沸騰前加入泡軟及擠掉水分的明膠片,攪拌至融化混合﹐稍煮後離火。倒進蜜糖跟細砂糖﹐攪拌至完全融化。抹茶跟些許熱奶漿混合後﹐加進小鍋裡﹐攪拌至跟奶漿完全融化混合。將小鍋泡冰水浴放涼﹐過濾奶漿﹐然後倒進ramekins裡﹐放進冰箱冷凍2-3小時或一個晚上。

將奶酪脫模: 隔著熱水回暖 (或用熱毛巾將周圍熱敷)十秒,稍微搖一下﹐將模子倒轉放于盤子上﹐拍一拍模底﹐往上拉脫模。食用時將接骨木糖漿跟清水混合﹐淋在奶酪上﹐再加一點食用金箔點綴即可。

29 comments:

  1. Hello, Vi~

    I love matcha and Panna Cotta, but never made any graceful ones like yours (笑)... This matcha panna cotta looks refreshing (plus delicious I bet!).

    Elderflower syrup seems widely-used, especially it does sound nice in Champagne and sparking wine/water. I will give it a try! :D

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  2. Hiks..hiks... everytime I see a matcha posting, I feel i wanna cry...because I love them so much but but I couldn't get the powder here, try to brew essense from available green tea but just doesn't taste the same :( ...well, I just can swoon over your picture ;)

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  3. 你好呀!唔該晒你既示範呀,我終於留到言俾你啦!
    你既甜品真係靚到無得頂呀,哩個綠茶奶凍個顏色好靚,味道一定好好味!

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  4. this is magic, the macha, golden notes and a panna cotta, vos photos sont sublimes comme à chaque fois!!!!!

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  5. Darling Vi`♥
    同意同意;]抹茶甜品可是非常美味的>v<
    又可以搭配豆腐跟紅豆^^
    不過macha 味的Panna cotta寧倒沒嚐過呢;p
    金葉子的點綴令它變得超級高貴呢*v*
    Vi果然是最棒的!v!
    做得好吃.裝飾優雅.拍攝漂亮.3重吸引耶@@

    對了.寧終於做了超級無敵特濃濕潤布朗妮喇.真的很好吃呢♥3♥
    還好寧有先見之名.把份量乘了兩倍.可以大快朵頤.哈哈哈xD
    過兩天寧就會把照片放上blog了啦.Vi有空的話來捧捧場好了=}
    還有還有.比賽報名截止了嗎.寧可不可以用這個報名參加呢?

    又寫了一大篇的回應--+
    Vi可不要介意寧廢話連篇呢xP

    永遠支持Vi的寧上:)

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  6. Vi, I've just discovered your fantastic blog. You make such beautiful little creations and with japanese flavors as well(!) which makes me nostalgic for Tokyo pastry shops or at least Sadaharu Aoki in Paris. (I'm French but living in London right now). I'll be visiting often. =)

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  7. I love panna cotta, too...and those colors are absolutely stunning!!

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  8. What a great combo! Your photos are just as stunning too!

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  9. 禮物希望送出..........

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  10. 嘩....送到啦!!送到啦!!!你收唔收到呀!!!哈...哈....
    抺茶好好味呀!!重見到有中文添.....哈....做呀!!回家做這甜品慶祝下先得啦!!!比我入到來啦!!!哈....哈....

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  11. Hi Martini~

    Yeah, it was refreshing 最高です=)panna cotta is the easiest dessert to make yet so addictively delicious! I realized that elderflower is quite popular too. However, I didn't notice recipes made with elderflower up until I bought the syrup. Mmmmm...it is so good..

    Zita^^

    I totally understand your pain on hard-to-find ingredients because I'm dying to get my hands on some red currants & cassis puree but I just can't find them in the Bay Area(>__<)

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  12. Hi查查^^

    Yeah~~~成功啦!!嘿﹐早知我就早d做示範啦! 好多謝你既美言呀﹗希望我會繼續帶比妳視覺上的驚艷啦~///~

    我好鍾意呢個甜品因為唔會"漏"加上充滿茶香♥u♥yummy~

    Baby寧~
    哎喲﹐寧寧這樣誇我讓我很不好意思呢~///~ 我在做這個panna cotta前也沒吃過抹茶味的而且還是用蜜糖做的﹗味道沒了傳統panna cotta的濃郁但多了清新的茶香♥Q♥寧寧一定要嚐試做來吃喔^^

    我收到你的參賽作品了﹗好誘人呀~~~~ 描述的非常棒而且攝影技術進步很多喔=)很讚﹗

    哪裡是廢話連篇﹐沒這種事﹗我喜歡看呀﹗呵呵。。。再寫多一點也無妨:p

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  13. Dear omami~

    Merci à tu une fois de plus pour ton compliment =)

    J'aime vraiment beaucoup la thé vert matcha! Dès qu'il y la thé vert, je craque^^

    Hi Hilda~

    Shake...shake..nice to meet you =D
    London & Paris, two of my must visit cities in the world! How I envy of you!

    I'm mad about Japanese inspired sweets and matcha is by far my favorite flavor! I just bought lots of books from Japan so I foresee many more of these Japanese inspired/fusion desserts to come in the near future.

    You’re welcome here anytime^^
    See you =)

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  14. Hi April~

    Isn't panna cotta so lovable? I can't have enough of it =D

    Hi Melody~

    This combo was a fantastic treat to one's palate!

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  15. Hi yy♥

    好o野(拍手ing)~~~~ 好開心見到妳的舌蹤呀。。。呵呵。。。。

    我大部份0既post都係寫雙語0架but中文果部份通常會遲1-2日先post上來﹗冇辦法﹐我0既腦袋需要時間將d英文翻譯成中文 ~.~

    好呀﹐做呢個甜品慶祝啦順便寄來參賽 =)

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  16. VENUSちゃん、
    お久し振りですね。元気ですか。

    Dear Venus,

    Long time not visit your blog, really miss you!
    Your desserts are always surprising me!!! This green tea panna cotta, I really like it, its color is so beautiful!

    Thanks for your birthday greeting!:)

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  17. The green matcha on the panna cotta looks beautiful! I'm with you on not overly sweet desserts.

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  18. OH~~ I heart panna cotta too!! This looks so cooling and soothing, it's perfect for summer.

    哈.. 妳真的很喜歡涼性的食物.. 抹茶是適合我吃的, not you :P

    But I understand your pain... 我喜歡熱的食物, 最近好想烤肉, 但是我會火氣大! :'(

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  19. I really need to get on the Panna Cotta bandwagon! I have never even tried it!
    I love the whisk in your photo!

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  20. What a lovely looking dessert. Panna cotta is definitely my most favorite dessert - marrying it with matcha is just brilliant! XOXO

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  21. Wow, your photos are beautiful! I love Panna Cotta too, I can't wait to try this.

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  22. Hi Vi,

    You have such lovely pictures.

    Speaking of macha and mascarpone, Annie did a green tea-ramisu for me that was out of this world.

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  23. Looks so pretty! I love matcha, and have never thought to pair it with elderflower.

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  24. Hi,

    I wanted to write a note to you, but since I couldn't find your email, leaving a comment.We at Wowzio have build some useful widgets, like slideshow widget, activity widget and more. For your blog, these can be seen at
    http://www.wowzio.com/widgets/seewidgets?ids=6545&r=c

    Again, I apologize for having to leave a comment, pl. note it is not my intent to spam you.

    Thx-Alisha
    alisha.wright1@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  25. Hi Mayu~~~~~~~~~~

    Hug~~~~yes, it has been a long time! How have you been?!

    This is dead easy to made! The better matcha powder you use the more vibrant the color!

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  26. Hi chuck, cakewardrobe, Madeline, and y~ - thank you for visiting^^ I hope you’ll give this a try. It is absolutely scrumptious!

    Leslie^^ - It is popping up every where in the blogspere cos it is the season for panna cotta! I hope you'll give it a try soon~

    Nate-n-Annie
    Thank you for your kind note. green tea-misu sounds terrific. I should try this soon =)

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  27. Verano~

    Yes, it's perfect for summer!

    I knew you would understand! I am trying to get my body back to the neutral state so I can eat all type of food, in moderation of course ;p

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  28. 你個甜品比賽有結果嗎???
    可惜我無時間比賽,如果參加一定令你好開心...哈...

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  29. Hi Vi,
    你既甜品真係整得好靚呀!自從睇左你個部落格後我就比你感染左,愛上左整甜品喇!!我好想試下整唎個 panna cotta, 但係我搵唔到 lychee honey, 我想知係 bay area 邊到有得買呢?不過我一定無你整得咁靚!我要多多加油呢~

    ReplyDelete

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