Recipe: Eggnog Panna Cotta

Like the taste of crème brûlée but think all that nonsense with the eggs and the baking in a water bath is too much work? Have you tried Panna Cotta?

The husband and I were first exposed to this food at a Peruvian restaurant, despite it being an Italian dessert. It has the exquisite pure creamy sweetness of really good quality vanilla ice cream, but is the consistency of yogurt. When I looked up how to make it, I was amazed that we hadn't done so sooner. It's so easy!

In honor of the holiday season, here's a special version. (If it's not winter, substitute half & half for the eggnog and up the sugar to about 1/3 cup since the eggnog is sweetened already. And probably leave out the nutmeg.)

You'll need 8 ramekins, so if you don't have any (Why not? They're great as tiny bowls when you need to melt a small amount of butter or just want a single scoop of ice cream!) now's the time to go buy a bunch of them.

I guess if you really don't want to go buy ramekins, you could put it in small cups or just make a big bowl of it and spoon it out to serve it once it's solid. Wouldn't be the same though.

Ingredients:

• 1 Packet of Unflavored Gelatin

• 2 Tablespoons of Cold Water

• 1 Pint of Heavy Whipping Cream

• 1 Cup of Egg Nog (or Half & Half, if this is some non-holiday time of year)

• 1/4 Cup of White Sugar

• 1 Teaspoon of Vanilla

• A Dash of Nutmeg

Step One: The Gelatin

1. Measure two tablespoons of cold water into a small bowl. (Or an extra ramekin. See? Useful.)

2. Sprinkle gelatin packet into water.

3. Let the gelatin sit for about 1 minute until it soaks up the water.

4. Stir it around so it's mixed in well.

5. Microwave it for about 15-20 seconds to melt it.

Step Two: The Cream

1. Dump the entire pint of cream, along with the egg nog (or half & half) and sugar into a small pot.

2. Heat on the stove until it just barely comes to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar and to prevent a skin from forming on top.

3. Remove from the heat.

4. Add in the gelatin liquid, the vanilla, and the nutmeg, and stir it up.

Step Three: The Fridge

1. Evenly split the mixture between all of your 8 little ramekins, or whatever other container you've chosen to put it in.

2. Put them directly in the fridge.

3. Wait at least 4 hours (preferably overnight)

4. Top with whatever you like. Fresh berries or jam is standard, but for eggnog version I just ate mine with granola, honey, and a dash of cinnamon!

I usually just eat mine straight out of the ramekin. If you want to get super-fancy about it, you can serve it on a plate. Just dip the ramekin in hot water for 3 seconds to loosen the gelatin, then run a knife around the edge, and you should be able to upturn the ramekin onto a small plate and put the toppings on top of it. It's gelatin, so it should hold its shape, though I'd recommend letting it sit in the fridge overnight if you're going to do this so that it has more structure.

I cannot speak for using this as a total substitute for crème brûlée, though, because since it is gelatin, it would very likely melt if you tried to torch sugar on top of it.