Matcha Panna Cotta with Queen’s Jel-It-In

I hope you all have had an enjoyable Easter break!

After all the chocolate madness over Easter, I was looking to make a more healthier dessert using some leftover matcha powder when Beyond the Square Communications approached me to try samples of Queen Fine Foods Jel-It-In.

Finally now I'm able to bring pannacotta's and jellies to share with my Muslim, vegan and vegetarian friends! Jel-It-In is a plant based alternative to gelatine, made from extracts of seaweed and seeds from the carob tree, think similar to agar-agar. Even if you're not vegetarian, Jel-It-In is a healthier alternative to gelatine which is made from the by products of animals (I always thought it was pork fat but it could also include skin, horn, hoof, bones – you name it!).

Matcha Panna Cotta

Matcha Panna Cotta tweaked for Jel-It-In gelling powder.

1 tbs Matcha powder

2 tbs sugar

1 tbs water

2 packets Jel-It-In gelling powder

5 tbs water

400ml milk

80g sugar

1. Mix the matcha powder and 2 tbs sugar with 1 tbs hot water to create a matcha sauce.

2. Dissolve 2 sachets of Jel-It-In in the remaining 5 tbs water.

3. Dissolve 80g sugar in the milk, half of the matcha sauce (step 1) and add the dissolved Jel-It-In (step 2) and bring the mixture to boil.

4. Once boiling point is reached, pour the mixture into the mould and leave it in the fridge to set.

5. Pour the remaining rest of the matcha sauce to serve.

I found it easy to use, clear and unflavoured. It was very fast-acting, as my panna cotta started to firm up while at room temperature soon after I poured it into the mould. I'm not sure whether it was the Jel-It-In but the panna cotta slid easily out of the mould when serving and held the shape of the mould very well when served – almost too well.

All in all I found it a great alternative to gelatine, though I will need to tweak my recipes used for gelatine as I found it set too fast and too hard compared to gelatine. I am especially excited to be able to share desserts with my Muslim and vegetarian friends as they only usually eat agar agar jellies and now they can have the taste that is seriously divine panna cotta desserts!