Redwood Tip and Mugwort Panna Cotta with Huckleberry Compote
Panna Cotta
2 cups cream; I used heavy whipping cream, but plenty of folks love Panna cotta with coconut cream (note: not creamed coconut)
A branch of redwood with pollen filled tips, once it’s fallen in an early springtime storm
A leaf or a few Mugwort
1/2 t high grain alcohol
1/4 cup whole fat milk
1/3 cup honey
1/4 t salt (I used smoked salt)
2 t gelatin powder
1 T oil like butter or coconut oil
Chop off about a cup or so redwood tips straight into a blender. Add mugwort. Add alcohol and blend till it’s finely chopped. Cover and let sit an hour. Mixing an herb with a little splash of alcohol before oil-extraction (as in the fat from the cream) aides the potency of the extract.
Heat cream & milk to a simmer and pour it over the redwood tips. Blend, first on low and building to high, for a few minutes. Take out of the pitcher and let infuse for an hour or so. Strain. Set aside cream and compose redwood marc. Place cream in fridge to chill.
When cream is cold (it needs to be cold for the next step), pour it into a saucepan and sprinkle gelatin on top. Let it bloom for five minutes till it’s well-wrinkled on the top. Place the saucepan on medium-low heat and stir your concoction till the gelatin is dissolved. Make sure it stays below simmering - you just want it warmed enough to melt the gelatin, which can take 2-8 min. Once it’s melted, stir in the honey and salt till well-combined. Take off heat when it’s fully homogenous.
Prepare muffin tins or ramekins with a very thin smear of oil. Pour into containers till they’re 3/4-1” filled. Place in fridge and let chill at least 3 if not 4-5 hours.
To get them out of the tins, pour boiling water into a cup that the tin can fit in. Lower the tin into the cup for 2-3 seconds till the panna cotta disengages from the side. Slide it out and voila!
Huckleberry Compote
Take a cup or so cleaned huckleberries and place them in a pot. Add 1/4 cup water & a splash of salt and bring to a simmer. Let cook 10-30 minutes till you like it’s consistency. Turn off heat and add 1/3-1/2 cup honey to taste. Stir well and there you go!
