Ten Easy & Elegant Dessert Parfaits

  

Just as promised here I am today with Ten easy and elegant dessert parfaits!  Oh, I do so love to make dessert parfaits in the summer time!

 

For one thing they make great use of all of the fresh fruit that we have available and coming into season, especially berries!

 

Our strawberries are finished now, but you can still get good local ones in the shops.  There are also plenty of blueberries, raspberries and the blackberries are just beginning!

 

These Raspberry, Ice Cream and Brownie Parfaits are a real favourite and so easy to do.  Especially if you have some ready made brownies about. 

 

The berries are sweetened with a bit of sugar and then layered in pretty glasses along with softened vanilla ice cream, crumbled brownies and milk chocolate chips! 

 

What's not to like about that?  Nothing!  These are so simple to make and oh so tasty! 

 

If you don't have brownies, you could use chocolate cookies, or pound cake  . . .  crumbled vanilla sandwich cookies, etc.  The world is your oyster!

 

You can let your imagination go wild with these!

  

If you wanted to you could even macerate your raspberries with a bit of Chambord raspberry liqueur, or drizzle with a bit of Mozart Dark Chocolate liqueur for something really special, especially if you are entertaining!

Raspberry, Ice Cream & Chocolate Brownie Parfait

Yield: 4

Author: Marie Rayner

A little taste of Heaven on Earth I believe.

ingredients:

• 250g fresh raspberries (2 cups)
• 2 TBS sugar
• 450g vanilla ice cream (2 cups)
• 4 brownies, crumbled
• 2 TBS milk chocolate chips

instructions:

How to cook Raspberry, Ice Cream & Chocolate Brownie Parfait

1. Sprinkle the sugar over the raspberries and let sit for a few minutes to macerate.   Stir the ice cream until a bit soft and then begin layering the ingredients into four parfait or decorative glasses, beginning with a bit of ice cream, half a crumbled brownie, some of the berries, some more ice cream, more crumbled brownie, more berries and some chocolate chips to finish.  Serve immediately.

Created using The Recipes Generator

 

One of my absolute favourite combinations however has to be these Mixed Berry and Lemon Cream parfaits!

  

A mix of berries is macerated in orange juice and sugar (you could use Cointreau or Gran Marnier if you wanted to.)  You whip some cream and fold in lemon curd.

  

And then layer the berries and some crumbled shortbread biscuits along with the cream in pretty glasses.  Oh boy, so yummy!

Summer Berry & Lemon Cream Parfaits

Yield: 4

Author: Marie Rayner

So delicious you won't be able to resist!

ingredients:

• 450g mixed summer berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries) (2 cups)
• 2 TBS sugar
• the juice of 1/2 orange
• 240ml double cream (1 cup)
• 2 heaped dessertspoons of lemon curd (1/4 cup)
• a few crumbled shortbread biscuits

instructions:

How to cook Summer Berry & Lemon Cream Parfaits

1. Sprinkle the sugar and the orange juice over the berries in a bowl. Leave to macerate while you make the lemon cream.
2. Whip the cream until soft peaks form.  Fold in the lemon curd.
3. Crumble the biscuits. How many you will need will depend on how many biscuit crumbs you want in your parfaits.  I would calculate one biscuit per parfait.
4. Have ready four decorative glasses or parfait cups. Beginning with the cream, layer in the fruit, biscuit crumbs and lemon cream, ending with a dollop of the cream on top, plus a few berries and some biscuit crumbs to garnish.  Chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Created using The Recipes Generator

 

*Eight Easy & Elegant Dessert Parfaits*

Each serves four

Printable Recipe

Parfaits are perfect, quick, easy and delicious desserts to serve!  They take advantage of the natural flavours of fresh fruit and they don't require baking.  A plus in the summer when fresh fruit is readily available!  Here are some suggestions for some delicious combinations!

Strawberry Parfaits:  Sprinkle 450g (2 cups) sliced strawberries with 95g (1 cup) of sugar, the grated zest and juice of one orange and 1 TBS Balsamic vinegar.  Set aside for 15 minutes.  Whip 240ml heavy cream (1 cup) with 95g sugar (1/2 cup) until soft peaks form.  Starting with the fruit and ending with the cream, make 3 layers in each of 4 dessert glasses.

Ricotta Cheese, Walnut & Honey Parfaits:  Stir enough heavy cream into 250g ricotta cheese (2 cups) to obtain a soft consistency. Starting with the cheese building the parfaits in 3 layers, drizzling each layer with some nicely flavoured honey (Greek is lovely) and a sprinkling with  portion of chopped toasted walnuts.  Finish with honey and nuts.

Pineapple Caramel Sundae Parfaits: Sprinkle 450g (2 cups) chopped fresh pineapple with a few spoonfuls of soft light brown sugar, or to taste.  Stir 450g (1 pint) of vanilla frozen yogurt until soft.  Starting with the pineapple, layer in the pineapple and frozen yogurt in four dessert glasses. Drizzle with some prepared caramel sauce and serve immediately.

Jelly Parfaits: Prepare a package of cherry or raspberry jelly according to the package directions and pour into 4 dessert glasses.  Add mixed berries, sliced strawberries, or sliced banana and refrigerate until the jelly is firm.  Top with a dollop of whipped cream or creme fraiche and a scattering of the fruit you have used in the jelly.

Mixed Berry Creme Fraiche Parfaits:  Sprinkle a few spoonfuls of sugar over 125g (1 cup) of blueberries and 125g (1 cup) of raspberries to sweet them to taste.  Add the grated zest and juice of one lemon.  Let sit for about 5 minutes.  Whip 120g (1 cup) of creme fraiche with 30g (1/4 cup) sour cream until fluffy.  Starting with the berries, layer the berries and creme fraiche mixture in four glasses and chill until needed to serve.

Ambrosia Parfaits:  Sprinkle a few spoonfuls of sugar over the peeled segments of  1 orange and 1 grapefruit (with their juices) to sweeten the fruit.  Starting with the fruit, layer wedges with whipped cream and coconut flakes in each of four glasses. Top with a scoop of marshmallow fluff and a maraschino or fresh cherry to serve.

Chocolate Sandwich Cookie Parfaits: Stir a 450g (1 pint) of chocolate ice cream to soften slightly.  Starting with the ice cream, layer the ice cream with crumbled chocolate sandwich cookies (2 for each parfait) in each of four dessert glasses.  Drizzle each layer of cookie with chocolate sauce. Top with a dollop of whipped cream and some chocolate chips, chunks or shavings.  Serve immediately.

 

Peach & Mascarpone Parfaits:  Pour 2 TBS of Italian dessert wine and a few spoons of sugar over 450g (2 cups) chopped or sliced fresh peaches.  Whip 120ml (1/2 cup) heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Fold in 240g (1 cup) mascarpone cheese and 45g sugar (1/4 cup).  Starting with the peaches, layer the peaches with the mascarpone mixture in four glasses and top with crumbled amaretti cookies or gingersnaps.

 

Its truly amazing what you can do with a bit of imagination and whats in the store cupboard when it comes to creating simple and delicious summer desserts!   Happy Weekend!

Up tomorrow: Chocolate Birthday Cake