This particular recipe came to be in a somewhat convoluted way. Every Thanksgiving my mother makes a delicious savory corn pudding. I wanted to take that dish and reinvent it, making it into a dessert… a panna cotta! Why panna cotta, you may ask?
- Panna cotta is easily adaptable to whatever is in season.
- The ingredients are inexpensive: basically milk, cream, sugar, gelatin, and our flavor of choice.
- You probably already have all of the ingredients in your kitchen.
- It makes you look like a bad-ass in the kitchen, but really it’s super easy, quickly assembled, and can be made ahead!
- It’s an elegant, yet simple.
- It can feed a few or a crowd!
Then there’s the matter of the candied bacon. I’m visiting my parents in Florida, so I’m without some of my kitchen gadgets. Originally, I had planned to make this dish more like a creme brûlée, and caramelize a sugar topping with my kitchen torch… but I forgot the torch at home. Granted, I know the same effect can be achieved by placing the creamy custard under a broiler, but not having that kitchen tool got me thinking in a new direction.
I had a brilliant idea to make a bacon compote! I chopped up some cooked bacon, added some roasted corn kernels, and sautéed them with a little cider vinegar and some pomegranate molasses. One taste proved that it was far too sour – not nearly sweet enough… in fact, it was face-sucking tart!
I tired to remedy the situation. Have you ever done something (in the kitchen or otherwise) that you knew should not and would not work, but you did it any way? That’s exactly what I did! Despite knowing what would happen, I started adding sugar – enough sugar until it was the desired sweetness. Of course by then, (as I knew would happen) the compote turned into rock-hard caramel. Ugh… why did I do that?! I think I may have subconsciously known the bacon compote wasn’t working, so I tanked the recipe and made petrified bacon jam.
Bacon compote idea abandoned, the pan still soaking in a tub of hot soapy water, I racked my brain with an alternate topping. Candied bacon! I recently made some with a Michelada recipe, and I was hooked! A magical item, bacon is often known as the duct tape of food. But this is not just regular bacon my friends, this is savory, sweet, with a bit of heat! I literally want to put this stuff on everything! The crispy candied bacon pairs perfectly with the rich and creamy sweet corn panna cotta.
You may have never had Corn Panna Cotta with Candied Bacon, you may even think it sounds a little strange. But trust me, you need to try Corn Panna Cotta with Candied Bacon. The flavors and textures are so perfectly paired your tastebuds will be thanking you – and so will your guests! Enjoy!
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PS. Ninkasi Brewing makes a Dormund style lager called Venn that would be great with this. It’s what we’ll drink with it for sure?
I’ve never had that one before but I just checked it out online – sounds awesome! Thanks for the beer pairing tip!
First of all – we are making this. Brilliant recipe and concept!
Second – “petrified bacon jam” just might be our new favorite phrase!
Thanks! I hope you enjoy it! And yes, ‘petrified bacon jam’ is a favorite term in our house too 😉
Such an interesting idea for a recipe! I don’t haven’t dabbled much in the world of Panna Cotta but… this looks like a great place to start! You had me at Candied Bacon! 😉
Thanks, Meggan! I hope you enjoy! 🙂
Can I just clarify a couple of things? It is canned corn, not creamed canned corn right? Also, do you use both the liquid the corn comes in in the can as well as the liquid you extract out? How much liquid in total is that? The reason I ask is because for a dish that uses gelatine, I know that the liquid amount is important and I have a feeling that the amount of liquid in cans + probably the juiciness of corn might be different here in Australia.
And sorry, one more question. Is the bacon cooked until crisp so it crumbles, or just before crisp so it’s choppable without crumbling?
Thanks!!
Hi Nagi! You’re right, it is canned corn, not creamed corn. If you cannot find sweetened canned corn, you can use just regular (unsweetened) canned corn – you can always add a bit more sugar, if you think it needs it. Or if you’d like, use the equivalent weight of fresh corn kernels if it’s in season! No worries in regards to the liquid in the cans, you want to drain them anyway. You’ll get enough liquid from the milk and cream to allow for a proper gelatin/liquid ratio.
Personally, I like my bacon like I assume Goldilocks likes hers, not too soft, not to crisp, but juuust right 🙂 I like it when its got a bit of crispness to it, but not so much that it’s dry and crumbly. In my oven that was about 20 minutes. But I’d start checking around the 15 minute mark since everyones oven is a little different.
I hope this helps! If I haven’t been clear about anything, please don’t hesitate to ask!
This. Is. GOLD! I never in a million years would have thought of corn panna cotta let alone candied bacon topping! I think that sometimes the most creative recipes come about when you’re scrambling to “make do” and this is one of them. I mean, the flavour combination is a no brainer – bacon + corn = perfection (David Chang has totally mastered it!). This is seriously the kind of dessert I would expect to find in a very posh restaurant!
Aww… thanks, Nagi! You know what’s funny (and I certainly hope this doesn’t sound like I’m being to boisterous) when I took the first bite – I thought whoa, that tastes like something you get at a fancy fusion restaurant! I’m so flattered you thought the same!
What a creative recipe! I love it! Savory Panna cotta and candied bacon sounds like an amazing combination!
Thanks, Mira! The sweet and creamy corn go so well with the bacon!