I had this for the first time a few years ago at Scottsdale Community College's culinary arts dining room. It wasn't particularly compelling sounding on the menu, but it was the most carb-friendly option. It was amazingly light, yet rich... whenever I see it on a menu now, it's one of my top choices. The original panna cotta was pine nut infused which gave it a lovely nutty edge. My first attempt combined two recipes, one for hazelnut infused cream (from http://www.culinate.com/articles/features/infused_cream, a nod to the pine nuts) and the other from Cook's Illustrated for the finest-tweaked panna cotta. Here you go....
3+ cups heavy cream (you need 3 c. but will lose a little if you infuse with nuts)
1/2 c hazelnuts
1 c. whole milk
2 3/4 t. unflavored gelatin (about 1 pkg. Knox)
1 2" piece vanilla bean or 2 t. vanilla extract
pinch salt
6 T. sugar (I used heaping 1/8 c. sugar and heaping 1/8 c. Splenda)
8 4 oz. ramekins (I used small teacups)
Infused Cream (as found for hazelnuts... I'm sure other nuts would work well too):
Toast 1/2 c. hazelnuts in a baking pan in a 350-degree oven for about 20 minutes. Remove the nuts from the oven, let cool for a few minutes, and then rub off their skins. Chop the nuts in a food processor or with a knife. Heat slightly more than 3 cups cream over medium heat until the cream is scalded but not boiling. Add the chopped nuts to the cream, cover the pan, and set aside to cool for about 30 minutes. Transfer the cream to a bowl and refrigerate it overnight (I did this in one day... put it in the fridge for as long as you can). Strain the chilled cream into a mixing bowl through a fine-mesh sieve. Press the nuts with the back of a spoon to extract every last drop of the hazelnut-flavored cream. Add more cream to make up 3 cups if you need to.
Pour milk in medium saucepan and sprinkle surface evenly with gelatin. Let stand 10 minutes to hydrate the gelatin. Meanwhile, turn contents of 2 ice cube trays into a large bowl and add 4 c. cold water. Measure cream into measuring cup. Slit vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape beans into cream. Also put vanilla bean into cream. Or add vanilla extract. Put ramekins/teacups in a 9x13 baking pan with lid. Heat milk and gelatin over high heat, whisking constantly, until temperature is 135 F on an instant-read thermometer, about 1.5 minutes. Remove from heat and add sugar and salt. Stir until dissolved, about 1 minute. Whisking constantly, slowly pour the cream into the saucepan of milk. Transfer to ice-water bath (put in a bowl if your pan doesn't fit). Stir frequently until mixture thickens ("about like eggnog") and reads 50 F, about 10 minutes. Strain into a large measuring cup or pitcher and divide evenly among ramekins. Cover and refrigerate until just set, about 4 hours. Propriety says to dip ramekins in hot water and unmold to serve, but I just put the teacups on the table.
Note: Cook's said to decrease gelatin to 2 5/8 t. if making the day before. I had one extra cup that (make with the full 2 3/4 t) that we didn't eat until a couple of days later... and it may have been a *tiny* bit more set, but it was still perfectly delicious.
