When Kim put it out on the Twitterverse that she was thinking of having guest bloggers on her blog, I was interested and excited to think that I’d be able to be a guest blogger for someone!

Knowing that I had a backlogged of posts and certain schedules to attend to, the chance to post up some of my recipes (which can’t for one reason or another take place on my own blog) was immediately appealing.

So I asked Kim what she would most like to have featured on her blog, to which she replied, “Desserts!”. My mind immediately went to the dinner the Boy and I recently held for his cousins with the theme of Autumn festival in Spring, and the fact that I made one of the easiest yet tastiest desserts ever!

This recipe was inspired by my other half (who thought about this before I went Googling for recipes), as well as from Billy and David Lebovitz.

Tastewise, this dessert definitely had the smoothness of a Panna Cotta and the interplay of all the key ingredients. At the first instance, you taste the vanilla and cream, followed by a hint of saffron and then the sweetness from the blood orange.

So here you go, readers of Kimba’s Kitchen and future readers of mine, please find the recipe of my Saffron Infused Blood Orange Panna Cotta recipe.

Ingredients:
1 blood orange (quartered/cubed)
1 whole zest of blood orange (grated)
1 ½ cup heavy (thickened) cream
1 ½ cup full cream milk
½ cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste (or 1 vanilla pod, halved and scraped for seeds)
1 pinch of saffron (approximately 10 strands)
1 teaspoon gelatin powder
3 tablespoon cold water

Serves 6 (using margarita glasses)

Method:
Add heavy cream, milk, sugar, vanilla bean paste, saffron, and blood orange zest into a saucepan and heat up over a medium-low heat.

Be careful to not let it boil. It has to be warm-hot, not BOILING-HOT!

Let the mixture infuse for 10-15 mins or until all sugar has dissolved (and turn off the heat).

Strain the mixture into a large bowl.

Meanwhile, prepare the gelatin mixture by adding the gelatin powder into the cold water (3 tablespoons) and let it sit for 5 minutes.

Add the soften gelatin into the mixture and stir until it dissolves. Let it cool.

Pour the mixture into margarita glasses (or any other mold you wish to use).

Distribute the quartered/cubed blood oranges evenly in all the glasses (mold), and cover each glass rim with glad wrap.

Set aside in the fridge for 2 hours or more before serving.

NOTE:
If using a Panna Cotta mold (or other) to serve on its own, make sure you lightly oil the molds with a neutral-tasting oil in order for the Panna Cottas’ to come free. If you are using gelatin sheets (leaves) I’d recommend reading this to get the measurements right.

by I-Hua Lim