Lychee Panna Cotta with Pomegranate Gelatin and Granita

I love panna cotta. Wascar first introduced it to me at one of our first home-cooked fancy dinners (though it wasn’t really cooking together because we cooked in our own separate apartments and brought the food to one place). Ever since, I’ve been meaning to try different panna cotta recipes, there are just SO many variations! Unfortunately, I cannot make panna cotta too often because it’s just filled with too much heavy cream for one little person like me! This particular panna cotta seems to be a big hit thus far. I hope you will like it too—if not just for the pictures ;)

Bon appetite!

-Erica

Lychee Panna Cotta with Pomegranate Gelatin and Granita (adapted from Une-deux senses)

Ingredients:

For the Panna Cotta

1 can of lychees with syrup (only need 2/3 can of the syrup)
2 tsp powdered gelatin
1 1/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup whole milk (you can make the panna cotta richer and more dense by using 2 cups heavy cream instead of cutting with milk)
1 1/2 tbsp sugar

For the Pomegranate Gelatin

1 1/2 tsp gelatin
1 cup pomegranate juice
1/3 cup of sugar

For the Lychee Pomegranate Granita

1 can lychees with syrup (again only need 2/3 can of the syrup)
1 cup pomegranate juice

Recipe

For the Panna Cotta:

Puree the entire can of lychee with 2/3 of the syrup. (when it is summer-time and there are fresh lychees around, I like to add in some fresh ones in).
Separate the pulp from the juice with a strainer.
Combine lychee liquid, milk, cream, sugar in a pot and heat over medium heat to a boil, making sure to stir so the sugar dissolves evenly.
While the mixture is heating up, add 3 tbsp cold water over gelatin and let bloom.
Remove from liquid mixture from heat and stir in gelatin until completely mixed. (If the gelatin has hardened, place in microwave for 7-10 seconds)
Pour into a large bowl and place the bowl in an ice bath. Stir the mixture for anywhere between 15-30 minutes (by hand) until it starts to thicken and look silky but also creamy. (I imagine silk being blown in the wind, or those luscious chocolate commercials ;) )
Separate into separate containers to cool for 2+ hours (until it sets).

For the pomegranate gelatin:

Combine pomegranate juice and sugar into a pot and heat on medium, stirring until sugar is dissolved—then immediately remove from heat (DO NOT let mixture boil)
While the mixture is initially heating, add 3 tbsp cold water over gelatin and let bloom.
Add gelatin mixture to pomegranate syrup and stir until fully incorporated.
Let mixture cool for 10-15 minutes. If your mixture is too hot, it will start to melt the panna cotta.
Pour gelatin mixture over panna cotta and refrigerate for about 2 hours—until it sets.

For the Pomegranate Granita (This granita can be eaten alone, especially on summer days when a nice, cold, refreshing, dessert is sought):

Puree the entire can of lychees and 2/3 of the syrup. Strain pulp from liquid.
Add pomegranate juice, stir to mix, and place in freezer to set.
This step will vary depending on where you live, how cold your freezer is set, etc. I had to wait every hour to take the granita out and scrape it with a fork to get a frozen-slush mixture. I scraped about 3 times total. I’ve seen many recipes say every 30 minutes, but maybe they live at a different elevation than I do because when I took it out at 30, it was still liquid slush—in the end, you should have what looks like shaved ice!