Corn & Caramel Panna Cotta

I just visited my neighbor’s blog and left with panna cotta thoughts on my mind. Well I was thinking of corn with caramel sauce before I even turned on my computer; smooth and velvety panna cotta with corn kernels and yummy caramel sauce.

I don't have all the fresh ingredients which means I have to cheat a little and make it semi home-made. I would love to use fresh corn on a cob but a bag of frozen sweet corn kernels is what I have. Making my own dulce de leche is out of the question because it takes three hours for the milk to cook so skip that and make use of the Ghirardelli caramel sauce I have. I certainly don’t have time when I’m craving so everything needs to be ready for eating asap even if I have to cheat a little. Okay-I don’t even have heavy cream but it’s worse not having Knox unflavored gelatin because that is what will give the cooked milk that wonderful texture. Luckily, I have Madagascar vanilla bean so that should make up for the frozen corn. Corn plus milk plus vanilla equals deliciousness. And trust me, I will make the more authentic version as soon as I can.

Ingredients:

1 cup whole milk

1/3 cup sugar

2 cups corn

2 cups half and half

1/4 tsp sea salt

1 Madagascar vanilla bean (split open pod, scrape off the paste and save the pod)

4 tbsp water

2 tbsp unflavored gelatin

6 ramekins

Ghirardelli caramel sauce

Preparation:

Bring milk, vanilla paste and sugar to simmer in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add corn kernels and simmer until corn is tender, about 5 minutes. Strain milk into another saucepan and transfer the corn to another bowl- set aside. Add half and half and salt to the milk and bring to a slow simmer.

Meanwhile, place 3 tablespoons water in small cup. Sprinkle gelatin over. Let stand until gelatin softens. Remove cream mixture from heat and add softened gelatin. Stir well making sure there are no lumps. Drizzle caramel sauce in the bottom of the ramekins and add a tablespoon of the corn kernels to each one. Divide the custard mixture equally among the ramekins. Refrigerate until set or at least four hours or overnight. With a thin knife, loosen the sides of the ramekin to release the panna cotta before inverting/transferring to a serving dish. Spoon some more caramel sauce and sprinkle a few more corn kernels before serving.

I had to make another batch because six cups is not going to last when we have guests in the house. And I ended up making my own dulce de leche which took three hours to cook on the stove top. But it's oh so worth it. Nothing beats the flavor of home-made dulce de leche. I think the second batch tasted even better even with frozen corn kernels. Wonder how fresh corn on a cob tastes? I kinda imagine and it won't be long before the actual tasting happens.

November 9: Rather than do a separate post on this, let this be my Panna Cotta Epilogue. I told you, it won't be long till the actual tasting happens. Fresh is of course always better although the frozen corn I used is delicious as well.

I used two and had some left over for toppings. I used my dulce de leche which I whisked with a little heavy cream just to loosen it and make it easier to drizzle. I just thought I should do an update but wish I have better pictures. The redeeming factor is the good reviews I received when I shared some with my friends at work.