Chai panna cotta with vanilla poached pears

Line a medium sized loaf pan with a volume capacity of more than 1 litre with plastic wrap. Make sure there are no gaps for the liquid to seep under or between the plastic.

Gently heat the cream, milk, sugar and salt to just below boiling point while stirring until the sugar has dissolved, remove from the heat, add the tea leaves and let it infuse for about 8 minutes (tasting the mixture is the best indication when to stop the infusion).

Once the desired infusion strength has been reached pour the mix through a fine sieve to remove all the leaves.

Soak the gelatin leaves in cold water for 5 minutes, wring the sheets out and add the sheets to the warm cream mixture, stir until dissolved and pour into the prepared loaf pan. Let it set in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

Bring the water and drizzle to the boil and add the pear slices, turn down the heat and let it simmer for 20 – 30 minutes until the pears are cooked through. This will depend on the ripeness of the pears.

Remove from the poaching liquid and let the slices cool, bring the poaching liquid to a fast boil and reduce to a thin syrup and let it cool while the panna cotta sets.

When the panna cotta has set, gently turn over onto a serving platter and remove the plastic wrap, spoon the pears on top and serve the syrup on the side or drizzled on top.

Recipe reprinted with permission of Hein Stirred. To see more recipes, please click here.

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