Coconut Lime Panna Cotta with Burnt Sugar

Who would have ever thought that something that was so easy to make could look and taste so good. I searched the web looking for a recipe for coconut panna cotta. They all involved steeping shredded coconut in the cream. Then you had to strain the mixture through a sieve. This seemed like a lot of work. I knew I had some cream of coconut in the fridge, so I thought up this dish to use it up. The lime really makes the panna cotta taste light.

Coconut Lime Panna Cotta with Burnt Sugar

1 cup of Half and Half
1 cup of Cream
1/4 cup of cream of coconut
1/4 cup of sugar
1 packet of unflavored gelatin
zest of 1 lime
2 tbs lime juice
1 tbs of cold water
Turbinado sugar
light tasting oil for greasing ramekins

In a small bowl combine water and lime juice and sprinkle gelatin over top and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. In a sauce pan over a medium flame combine half and half, cream, cream of coconut, sugar, and lime zest. Cook this mixture until the sugar is melted. Turn off the heat. Stir the gelatin mixture into the hot cream mixture. Whisk until it is combined. Then pour into 4 three inch lightly greased ramekins. Place the filled ramekins in the fridge for at least 4 hours or up to 2 days. Just before serving remove the ramekins from fridge and sprinkle the tops with Turbinado sugar. Then with a propane torch cook sugar until crisp and lightly burnt. If you don't have a torch you can place the ramekins under the broiler, but you must pay close attention so they don't burn.