Chamomile Panna Cotta With Citrus Fruits

This citrus-y dessert combines the freshness of oranges with soft, creamy chamomile cashew cream, and rice milk panna cotta. The chamomile is subtle, so the blood orange sauce takes center stage in this recipe. Serve this with a garnish of orange segments and lemon balm leaves for a striking presentation that's perfect for springtime parties.

CHAMOMILE PANNA COTTA WITH CITRUS FRUITS [VEGAN]

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE RICE MILK:

• 3/4 cup rice
• 2  3/4 cups of water

FOR THE PANNA COTTA:

• 1/4 cup hot water
• 2 bags of chamomile tea
• 1 teaspoon of agar agar powder
• 1 1/2 cup of homemade rice milk (recipe above)
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon cashew cream (recipe below)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

FOR THE CASHEW CREAM:

• 3/4 cup cashews (amount before soaking)
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup water, plus more, for soaking nuts

FOR THE BLOOD ORANGE SAUCE:

• Juice of approximately 3 blood oranges (1 1/4 cups)
• 1-2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon potato flour/starch, plus 1 tablespoon water

FOR SERVING:

• Oranges and blood oranges, cut into segments
• Lemon balm leaves, for garnish

PREPARATION

TO MAKE THE RICE MILK:

1. Toast the rice in a dry frying pan over medium heat for approximately 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until the color turns slightly yellow. Put the rice and water in a bowl. Let the rice soak overnight in the refrigerator.
2. Purée the rice and water in blender or hand blender, until the mixture is smooth. Strain the milk through a cloth gauze into a clean container. Squeeze the remaining liquid from the solid rice.

TO MAKE THE PANNA COTTA:

1. Put chamomile tea bags into hot water. Let them infuse until liquid is cooled to room temperature (about 10 minutes). Remove tea bags and squeeze all liquid out. Stir agar agar into tea.
2. Put the rice milk and sugar in a saucepan. Pour the agar agar and tea mixture through a sieve into the saucepan. Heat the rice milk mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Heat, stirring constantly, for approximately 5 minutes. The mixture will thicken during the cooking. Remove from heat. Add vanilla extract and the cashew cream and stir to combine.
3. Pour the panna cotta into serving bowls and place in refrigerator to thicken for several hours, or overnight. Serve.

TO MAKE THE CASHEW CREAM:

1. Soak cashew nuts 2-8 hours in plenty of water. Drain and rinse the nuts. Blend the nuts with a bit of water until smooth. Cashew cream should look like thick yogurt.

TO MAKE THE BLOOD ORANGE SAUCE:

1. Put the juice and sugar in a saucepan and cook for approximately 10 minutes. Scoop off any foam that forms on the top of the sauce as it cooks.
2. In a small bowl, stir the water into potato flour. Pour potato flour mixture in a slow, steady stream, into the boiling juice, stirring constantly.
3. Heat, stirring constantly, until the juices thickens into a sauce.
4. Remove from heat and let cool.
5. Maikki Vasala, a Finnish foodie and food blogger who writes in English and Finnish

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-recipe/chamomile-panna-cotta-with-citrus-fruits/