Licorice Root Panna Cotta with Blood Orange
A silky panna cotta infused with licorice root tea and topped with blood orange segments — the tea's gentle anise sweetness needs almost no added sugar.
Panna cotta is the perfect vehicle for licorice root tea because the dessert is meant to be subtle — just barely set cream that lets a single flavor shine through. Steeping the root directly in warm cream and milk extracts its sweetness gradually, so you end up needing far less added sugar than a typical panna cotta recipe.
The anise-like quality of licorice translates beautifully into a chilled, creamy dessert, landing somewhere between fennel and black licorice candy but much softer and rounder once mellowed by dairy.
Blood orange is the ideal topping. Its tart, faintly berry-like juice and ruby color cut through the panna cotta's richness and echo the citrus pairings licorice has carried for centuries in European confectionery.
Make this a day ahead — panna cotta needs time to set fully, and the licorice flavor actually deepens slightly overnight as it sits in the fridge, giving the dessert a more rounded, less sharp anise note by the time you serve it.
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 3 tbsp dried licorice root (cut and sifted) or 4 tea bags
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 tsp unflavored gelatin
- 3 tbsp cold water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 blood oranges, segmented
- 1 tbsp honey
- Mint leaves for garnish
How to make it
- 1Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in a small bowl and let bloom for 5–10 minutes.
- 2Heat cream, milk, and licorice root in a saucepan until just simmering. Remove from heat, cover, and steep for 15 minutes.
- 3Strain out the licorice root, then return the infused cream to low heat. Whisk in sugar until fully dissolved.
- 4Remove from heat and whisk in the bloomed gelatin and vanilla extract until smooth.
- 5Pour into 6 ramekins or glasses. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, ideally overnight, until fully set.
- 6Before serving, toss blood orange segments with honey. Top each panna cotta with the orange segments and a few mint leaves.
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