Pomegranate Panna Cotta

[Note: I got this from a Bon Appétit Test Kitchen Web page.
I've made a stripped-down local copy in case the original goes away.]

Bon Appétit | February 2008

Time:

• Preparation: 30 minutes
• Waiting for it to gel, etc: 5 hours

Ingredients

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 3 tablespoons plus 2 cups pomegranate juice (such as Pom)
• 2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin (one small Knorr packet)
• 1 cup sugar
• Peel from 1 orange, removed in strips with vegetable peeler
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Preparation

• Spray six 3/4-cup ramekins or custard cups with nonstick spray.
• Place 3 tablespoons pomegranate juice in small bowl.
• Sprinkle gelatin over; let stand at least 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat remaining 2 cups pomegranate juice, sugar, and peel in large saucepan over medium high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar.
• Boil until syrup is reduced to 1 1/4 cups, about 20 minutes.

• Remove from heat.
• Remove peel from pan; transfer 1/3 cup syrup to small bowl and reserve for sauce.
• Add gelatin mixture to remaining hot syrup in pan, and stir until dissolved.
• Add orange juice and whipping cream, then buttermilk.
• Divide among prepared ramekins.
• Chill until set, probably 5 hours or overnight.
• Cover and chill sauce separately.

• Run knife around edge of ramekins; invert onto plates.
• Drizzle with sauce and serve.

Modifications by Kim

• I got scared I was getting too much orange peel flavor, so I took it out half way through.
• I also sprinkled a few pomegranate seeds ("arils") on each one as edible decoration

Tip from Kim
The original recipe says to reduce the syrup over high heat. The second time I prepared this dish, I tried to speed things along by boiling it over my maxiumum heat setting. This eventually produced a thick brown carmelized sludge. Not exactly the desired outcome; hence the medium heat recommendation. May take longer, but it'll be edible!

Test Kitchen Tip
Don't waste the orange peel: It makes an attractive garnish. Remove it from the syrup and let it cool, then thinly slice it lengthwise. Toss it with 3 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl; cover and chill.

Nutritional Information
One serving contains the following:

• Calories (kcal) 252.49 (% Calories from Fat 15.0)
• Fat (g) 4.23
• Saturated Fat (g) 2.63
• Cholesterol (mg) 16.10
• Carbohydrates (g) 51.97
• Dietary Fiber (g) 0.11
• Total Sugars (g) 50.98
• Net Carbs (g) 51.86
• Protein (g) 3.28