Lavender Panna Cotta

I have a soft spot in my heart for Panna Cotta. It reminds me of when I worked in Maui and the Executive Chef of the hotel I worked at would make batches and batches of different flavored Panna Cotta's for the staff to try. He made ones with flavors of basil, passion fruit, coconut, etc. But my favorite was lavender.

There are a good number of Lavender Panna Cotta recipes online, but I decided to try this one. I wanted the most traditional recipe I could find, and I think this one is a fairly good choice.

Recipe (serves 8):
5 cups heavy cream
1 1/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons dried lavender flowers
1 1/2 cup sugar
Two 1/2 ounce packets powdered gelatin
Honey, for garnish

Directions:
1. Combine cream, 1 cup of the milk, and lavender in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Take pan off the heat and stir in the sugar until it dissolves. Strain out the lavender.

2. While cream mixture is cooling, pour the remainder of the milk into a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Let stand for 5 minutes.

3. Stir the dissolved gelatin into the cream mixture. (If the mixture becomes too cool to dissolve the gelatin, set it back on a low flame, stirring continuously, until the gelatin is completely incorporated into the cream.)

4. Pour the mixture into individual serving vessels or one large dish. Let it sit for at least 6 hours in the refrigerator, undisturbed, on a flat surface. Drizzle with a few drops of honey for garnish, and enjoy.

 My apologies...I had no flowers to garnish my dessert with, only strawberries. So though it may look like a Strawberry Panna Cotta, it is indeed a Lavender Panna Cotta. Cheers!