Parfait Recipe

Here is a guide to preparing healthy parfait recipes. A homemade parfait is a welcome treat for your family. Discover the joy of preparing a fruit parfait, yogurt parfait and varieties of parfait that pleases the eye as well as the palate. Children won't be able to wait to scoop out the nutritious ingredients from these tasty blends.

Parfait - The French connection

The word 'parfait' denotes perfect in French. Truly, a French parfait is as perfect as it is enchanting with a delicious taste and tempting appearance. The classic French parfait is a custard dessert in a frozen form. Egg yolks, sugar, whipped cream are mixed with a flavor in the form of fruit puree. The French use a technique termed 'sabayon' in the preparation of parfait. The technique involves boiling (mild heat) the food in liquid, generally oil or water. French parfaits are generally served on a plate and not necessarily in a parfait glass.

The American parfait can slightly vary from its French counterpart, in that it does not necessarily involve the use of 'sabayon' technique. The American parfait is also a dessert but with layering of cream or ice cream, fruits, fruit syrups or flavored gelatin dessert. Granola, chopped nuts, yogurts, maraschino cherry or any fresh fruit or whipped cream as a topping enrich the already scrumptious American parfait. The layers can be repeated till the parfait glass is full. There is no fixed or exact proportion of layering that needs to be adhered to. You can increase or decrease the proportion of a particular layer to suit your taste and preference.

Parfait glass

A tall, slender, clear glass with a short stem that naturally makes all layers visible suitably referred as parfait glass is used to serve the American parfait. A typical parfait glass can contain approximately 7½ ounces. Simple parfait recipes take less time to prepare provided the ingredients are ready for use. You just need few minutes to assemble the various items. Homemade cakes, puddings make for interesting layers in a parfait glass. Add wheat germ, low fat granola or go in for warm apple filling teamed with creamy vanilla ice cream. Kick start a busy day with a breakfast meal like yogurt parfait or fruit parfait. A nutritious parfait is an ideal breakfast choice providing valuable nutrients and energy. Top up your parfait with chopped walnuts or almond slivers.

Yogurt parfait recipe

Yogurt is highly nutritious; it contains protein and vitamins and is a rich source of calcium. The enzymes help in good digestion. Yogurt comes in different types of flavors such as vanilla, strawberry, cream pie and chocolate flavors. You can select from different yogurt varieties such as low fat and no fat yogurt, thick and creamy; thin drinking yogurt, bio-yogurt, rich organic yogurt, and baby yogurt especially for children and frozen yogurt.

24 ounces yogurt, any creamy flavor
1 cup homemade granola cereal
1 cup thinly sliced bananas
1 cup sliced blue berries

To experience real parfait, fill parfait glasses with a layer of flavored yogurt followed by homemade granola and thinly sliced bananas. Continue filling till you reach the brim of the parfait glass. End with another layer of yogurt. Decorate with a topping. Serve with a full blueberry fruit or sliced blueberry pieces.

Try different yogurt parfait recipes with different flavors of yogurt and different types of fruit. Prepare yogurt parfait recipe shortly before serving. Allowing granola or bran to be soaked in yogurt and fruit syrups for a long time will deprive the real delicious taste of a parfait.

Fruit parfait recipe

To make an attractive fruit parfait recipe, use a variety of seasonal fruits. Choose contrast fruit colors to make the fruit parfait even more attractive for kids. Fruit parfait can be created in a jiffy with whatever fruits are readily available at home.

1 cup thinly sliced ripe banana
1 cup strawberry fruit cut into bite-size pieces
1 packet Gelatin (any flavor of your choice)
12 tbs whipped cream

This measure can serve 8 parfait glasses. Divide the fruits equally enough for all glasses. Prepare gelatin as directed. Even sugar-free gelatin jello can be used. Now, pour gelatin in an equal measure over fruit in each glass. Carefully refrigerate all the glasses for 4 hours or until the preparation becomes firm. Take out the glasses and garnish with 1 tablespoon of whipped cream or even nuts. Ensure this recipe is served immediately after removing from the refrigerator. Try different variations by changing the gelatin flavor and include different fruits different times.

Parfait dessert recipe
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1 cup sour cream
3 tsp sugar or 2 tbsp finely powdered sugar
2 tbs sweetened alcoholic beverage juice (orange, melon or any flavor)
Frozen dessert topping (thaw before use)
3 cups peaches thinly sliced
2 cups fresh raspberry
2 cups blueberry or strawberry
Chocolate bars grated

This measure can fill 8 parfait glasses. Take a medium size wide bowl. Transfer sour cream, sugar and alcoholic beverage juice. Transfer dessert topping into the bowl and gently mix all the ingredients preferably with a rubber spatula. The sour cream mixture is ready now.

Take the parfait glasses and layer raspberry and strawberry pieces. Pour the sour cream mixture equally in all glasses. Repeat the layering in the same pattern. Just before serving, sprinkle grated chocolate. This recipe tastes well if prepared and chilled for about 2 hours.