Make ‘Kin’ Author Marie Mitchell’s Rich Rum Piña Panna Cotta

This is the fourth in a series of recipes taken from chef and author Marie Mitchell’s debut cookbook, Kin: Caribbean Recipes for the Modern Kitchen. Read Something Curated’s profile of Mitchell here, and find the recipes for a creamy squash, tomato and coconut curry, buss up shut roti and mango chow from previous issues. The series will conclude next week.

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Some of the boujee peeps among us might write off a piña colada, but I don’t feel like I’ve been in the Caribbean unless I’ve sat on a beach drinking one. The cocktail was created by a Puerto Rican, in Puerto Rico – a fact I did not know until some time after I’d visited Cuba (where I thought it came from) in 2016, on a research trip centred specifically around this cocktail. When I hosted a Cuban-themed supper club after my extensively well-researched trip, naturally I had to include a riff on my favourite tipple. Enter my piña panna cotta. 

My mum didn’t drink much past her mid-twenties, the hangovers she suffered with even a sniff of alcohol really weren’t worth it. She kindly passed on this trait to me, alongside her life-long love for creamy, pale drinks with rum. This is a dessert that’s all about nostalgia, and pairing rum with delicious creamy things. Before you begin, make sure the brand of gelatine you’re using states that four leaves would set 568ml of liquid (feel free to use a vegetarian gelatine if you like).

For six

Coconut oil, for greasing
5 gelatine leaves
400ml full-fat coconut milk
300ml single cream
2 tbsp light brown soft sugar
Up to 3 tbsp dark rum
Up to 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the caramelized pineapple

4 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp light brown soft sugar
¼ pineapple, cored and cut into 5mm chunks

Grated nutmeg, to taste, plus extra to serve

Grease six individual pudding moulds with coconut oil if you want to turn out your panna cottas; otherwise, use six individual dessert dishes. Soak your gelatine in cold water for 5 minutes. While the gelatine is soaking, place your coconut milk, cream and sugar in a saucepan on a low–medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Take the pan off the heat, squeeze out the gelatine and stir it into the mixture to dissolve. Strain the mixture through a sieve into a clean bowl. Stir in the rum and vanilla to taste. Pour the mixture equally into your moulds or dishes. Chill for at least 4 hours, or until set. For the caramelized pineapple, melt your butter in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the sugar, stir to combine, then cook over a medium–high heat until the sugar has dissolved. Add your pineapple, and cook, stirring from time to time to make sure it doesn’t catch, until any liquid has evaporated, the sauce has thickened and the pineapple is nicely coated. Add the nutmeg to taste and leave to cool.

To turn out the moulded panna cottas, dip each mould for no longer than 30 seconds in hot water and invert each on to a serving plate. Serve with the caramelized pineapple and sauce drizzled over and an extra grating of nutmeg.

Kin: Caribbean Recipes for the Modern Kitchen is out now and can be purchased here. Header image by © Christian Cassiel.