I was honored to interview Susana Tubert, creative director for Disney Entertainment at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.  This Latina is making a big impact at Disney.  She’s brought us VIVA NAVIDAD and now the celebration finale with Three Kings Day.  You have a few days still (till Jan.6th) to catch this event at Disney’s California Adventure.

Check out my interview with this amazing lady here:

 Disclosure: This is part of a sponsored campaign with the California Milk Processor Board and Latina Mom Bloggers. However, all opinions expressed and recipe is are 100% my own.

In my travels, I remember when I had panna cotta for the first time, in Italy.  It was a day off from touring with my band and I was wandering around the city of Milan.  I was purposely trying to get lost in order to “accidentally” find a treasure of a restaurant to blow me away.  After walking for about an hour or so, I happened to wander into this beautifully colored tiled bakery (Panetteria).  The people that worked in there were loud, happy and celebratory.  Celebrating life I suppose.  I asked them what they recommended to a slightly hungry girl from the United States that wanted to experience a bit of the essence of their culture.  They all immediately argued as to what I should eat.  Back and forth they playfully screamed at each other but in the end, the lady that seemed to be the matriarch of the bunch said I should give the panna cotta a try.  It’s a custard and is very common at most Italian restaurants.

Since that visit, I’ve made panna cotta for my family quite often.  There never has to be an occasion for it.  I don’t necessarily have to make an Italian meal in order to have it for dessert and it doesn’t always have to be a dessert.  I like to make it on a whim and whenever I’m invited to a pot luck.  At these pot lucks, it always seems to be the hit of the party and I’m asked by many for the recipe.

Here is my simple recipe for Panna Cotta….. I will also be making it for Three Kings Day since I have a few Italian friends visiting, and they won’t be around to make us dinner on Feb. 2nd if they get the toy baby. Rosca and panna cotta sound like a lovely combo anyway!  Like I said, it works for almost any occasion and people will love you for making such a yummy decadent treat.  Let me know how it goes! Click here to save some dough and get a great coupon. Or if you are in search of more milk recipes….click here!

Oh yeah, and how was the Panna Cotta in Italy you ask?

Delizioso!!!!!

Ingredients for panna cotta:

• 5 – tablespoons hot boiling water
• 2 – packets knox gelatin
• 1 – cup milk
• 3/4 – cup sugar
• 2 – vanilla beans (cut length wise)
• 1 -pint whipping cream
• 1 – cup 1/2 and 1/2

Directions:

1. Pour boiling hot water in a bowl, and sprinkle with knox gelatin. Mix to dissolve gelatin. Set to the side. 
2. In a small sauce pan over a medium flame add milk, sugar, and seeds from inside vanilla beans. Stir until sugar is dissolved. 
3. Add in whipping cream and 1/2 and 1/2 to sugar/milk mixture.
4. Let it combine for about 3 minutes, then remove from flame.
5. Pour the knox water mixture into milk mixture. Mix it to combine. 
6. Then pour the mixture through a sieve  to collect any bits of knox or pieces of vanilla bark. 
7. Pour the liquid into cups and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours. 
8. Top with fresh berries and cookies of your choice. I used strawberries and brownie cookies.
9. Enjoy! 

Christmas is long gone but Dia De Los Reyes is just around the corner. Typically children in Latin America and Spain celebrate the Three Kings on January 6th, which marks the 12 days of Christmas. It is believed that three kings came on the 12th day by guidance of the north star and found baby Jesus along with his parents in Bethleham.  The kings bestowed gifts on the new born king, and during the celebration of three kings day on Jan. 6th gifts are exchanged and it is a serious celebration had by all. People also either make or buy a rosca de reyes (Three Kings bread), and it has little toy babies baked inside it (usually between 1 – 3 babies per rosca, depending on who is making it). Enjoying the rosca becomes a big event where a group of people gather to eat it, and if your slice has a toy baby in it, then you are appointed to provide a tamale dinner for the people at the rosca gathering on Feb. 2nd for Dia De La Candelaria. It sounds complicated, but it’s sort of like a game… The rules: if you find a baby in your bread you make a tamale dinner on Feb. 2nd for the group of people at the gathering.

Get all your supplies to make your own Rosca De Reyes at Walmart….  and if you think you’ll get the toy baby, stock up on your tamale supplies there too.

Ingredients for Rosca De Reyes:

• 1/2 – cup water
• 4 – anise stars
• 1 – packet yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
• 1/4 – cup milk
• 1/3 – cup sugar
• 4 – tablespoons butter
• 1 – tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 – eggs
• 3 3/4 – cups flour
• 1/2 – cup dried cherries or craisins

Egg Wash:

• 1 – egg
• 1 – tablespoon water

Pasta Topping:

• 2/3 – cup sugar
• 1 – stick butter (1/2 cup)
• 1 – cup flour

Optional:

• dried fruit or paste
• toy babies

Directions:

1. In a small sauce pan over a medium flame add in water and anise stars. Bring to a boil and allow to boil for 5 minutes. Remove from flame and cool for 20 minutes. Remove anise stars and pour water into a bowl, it should measure out to 1/3 cup.
2. Pour yeast into the warm anise water bowl and set to the side for a minimum of 5 minutes. the yeast will start to foam.
3. In a small sauce pan over a medium-low flame add in milk, sugar, butter, and vanilla. Stir to combine and melt. 
4. As soon as the ingredients come together allow to cool for about 5 minutes then add in the yeast/anise water. Mix well. Set to the side.
5. In a separate bowl beat the eggs.
6. Fill a large bowl with flour and cherries, then pour in the sugar/milk/yeast mixture and the eggs. Mix with your hands till the dough comes together.  
7. Then on a lightly floured surface knead bread, and make into a round loaf. 
8. Place the loaf in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let it rest in a warm place for a minimum of on hour or overnight or until loaf doubles in size. 
9. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
10. On a lightly floured surface roll the dough out with your hands into a long snake. 
11. Make a little slit on top of the bread and insert baby. 
12. Then form the dough into an oval shaped ring binding the ends together. 
13. Make the egg wash: In a small bowl whisk egg and water together. Then brush the top of the ring with the egg wash. 
14. Make the pasta: In a mixer beat sugar and butter until fluffy and light, then add in flour. Mix till combined. It will feel like thick paste, and be slightly crumbly. Gather the mixture and place on a surface and roll out with a rolling pin. Traditionally people cut pasta into thick strips, I decided to cut mine into stars to represent the stars the three kings followed. 🙂 
15. Place rosca on a baking mat on top of a cookie sheet, then pasta shapes and dried fruits onto rosca/ring and bake for 25 minutes. 
16. Cut and enjoy with hot chocolate.