Chocolate Pumpkin de Leche Panna Cotta (Indian Corn Panna Cotta)
Layers of dark chocolate, mildly spiced pumpkin and sweet dulce de leche panna cotta. Such a treat! Make sure you have a lot of bowls ready. You will need them. And a large bowl full of ice and water to use as an ice bath. Chilling down the creams quickly will get you out of the kitchen a lot faster, and it's also the key to making a really creamy panna cotta.
2Tablespoonsdemerara sugar(I used Sugar in the Raw) you can also use plain granulated
1 ½teaspoonsvanilla
½teaspoonfine sea salt
10ozheavy cream(divided use)
For the Chocolate Layer
2 ½ozvery finely grated(I used a microplane) dark chocolate (either semisweet or bittersweet will work)
scant 1/2 teaspoon powdered gelatin
1Tablespoonwhole milk(or cold water)
For the Pumpkin Layer
4ozpumpkin puree(canned or homemade, not pumpkin pie filling)
¼teaspooncinnamon
½teaspoonpowdered gelatin
1Tablespoonwhole milk(or cold water)
For the Dulce de Leche Layer
slightly rounded 1/4 teaspoon powdered gelatin
1Tablespoonwhole milk(or cold water)
Instructions
Mise en Place--Very Important for this so you don't get cranky.
Get your scale ready. Everything here is done by weight. If you don't have a scale, I understand. I'll try to give some volume measures to make your life easier.
Aside from a medium saucepan, it makes life easier if you have at least 2 small pans as well. You might not need them, but just in case...
Have ready a fine mesh strainer and 2 whisks, if you have 2. Or three, if you have 3.
In 1 small cup or glass, bloom scant 1/2 teaspoon powdered gelatin in 1 Tablespoon whole milk or water. Set it next next to a medium bowl with the shaved chocolate in it.
In another small cup or glass, bloom 1/2 teaspoon powdered gelatin in 1 Tablespoon whole milk or water. Set it next to a medium bowl containing the pumpkin puree and cinnamon.
In yet another small cup or glass, bloom a slightly rounded 1/4 teaspoon powdered gelatin in 1 Tablespoon whole milk or water. Set it next to a medium bowl that contains nothing at all.
In yet another bowl, whip the 10 oz heavy cream until thickened and the whisk leaves tracks in the cream. It does not need to come to even soft peaks. You are just looking for Very Thick Cream here.
Set up your ice bath. Fill a large bowl (large enough to set the other bowls down in it with plenty of room to spare) with ice and water.
Get out your serving bowls or cups. The entire recipe makes about 43 oz of panna cotta, and you want your servings to be between 4-6 oz apiece. If you are going to unmold them, spray your cups lightly with some pan spray.
Put the cups on a tray and make sure there is room for them in the coldest part of your fridge.
For the Basic Panna Cotta
Bloom the 2 1/2 teaspoons of gelatin in the 2 oz of whole milk. Set aside for about five minutes.
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the 18 oz of whole milk along with the dulce de leche, sugar, vanilla and salt until hot and steaming but not boiling.
Add the reserved 2 1/2 teaspoons of bloomed gelatin, and whisk until melted.
For the Layers
Strain 1/3 of this base mixture (about 9 oz or just over a cup) along with the scant 1/2 teaspoon of bloomed gelatin into the bowl of finely shaved chocolate. Whisk until the chocolate and gelatin are completely dissolved. If things seem a bit lumpy or grainy, pour the entire chocolate mixture into one of the small saucepans and whisk over medium heat until everything is all lovely and smooth. Re-strain and set aside.
Strain another 1/3 of the base mixture (about 9 oz or just over a cup) along with the 1/2 teaspoon of bloomed gelatin into the bowl of pumpkin puree and cinnamon.
Whisk until everything is well combined and the gelatin has completely dissolved.
If not smooth, heat over medium heat until all the gelatin has melted.
Re-strain and set aside.
Strain the remaining third of the base mixture into the last bowl along with the slightly rounded 1/4 teaspoon bloomed gelatin.
Whisk until all the gelatin has dissolved. (You shouldn't have to reheat this batch at all, and if you have to, don't worry about re-straining it).
Now you have three bowls of proto-panna cotta and an ice bath. The next step is to thicken up the mixtures, one at a time, and then fold in some of the reserved whipped cream.
Stir the chocolate panna cotta in the ice bath until it reaches about 65F/18C.
Fold 1/3 of your softly whipped cream (3.3 oz or 1/2 cup) into the chocolate mixture and continue to fold/stir in the ice bath until the temperature reaches 50F/10C. At this point, the mixture will be thick and will very softly mound.
Pour an even layer in each of your serving containers and set the tray in the fridge. You may need to shake the cups a bit to get the layer to smooth out.
Repeat the same procedure with the pumpkin mixture, bringing the temperature down to 65F/18C before folding in 3.3 oz/ 1/2 cup of the cream and bringing it down to 50F/10C.
Retrieve the serving cups from the fridge and pour in an even layer of the pumpkin mixture, shaking the cups to level if necessary.
Return to the fridge and then finish up the whole extravaganza by repeating the process for a third and final time with the dulce de leche layer.
Chill for at least an hour before serving. If you are planning on turning them out onto serving plates, chill for at least three hours.
To unmold, run a thin knife around the inside of your mold and then dunk the bottom of the mold into hot water for about 30 seconds.
Put a plate over the top of the mold and then turn the two over and shake a few times to get the panna cotta to release onto the plate.
Serve with some softly whipped cream. You probably won't even need to sweeten it. Other options include shaved chocolate, candied pepitas (pumpkin seeds) or even some boozy caramel sauce.
Notes
If you are planning to unmold your panna cotta, you might want to pour the layers in reverse order so the chocolate is on the bottom. I didn't and nothing bad happened; I'm just putting it out there for you.Also, if you only have one strainer and don't want to rinse it in between layers, that's another good reason to go dulce-pumpkin-chocolate rather than the other way around.