What is a Strawberry Parfait and How To Make This Quick Dessert Recipe: A Guide

Parfait is a layered dessert that looks like a piece of art, cleverly combining various components to create a delicious dessert that can be eaten with mini spoons. While recipes can vary greatly, these are the core elements that are commonly incorporated:

1. Base: This bottom layer typically consists of yoghurt or cream. Yoghurt is a lighter base that is also healthy, while the cream is a richer, more indulgent and tastier base. 
2. Fruit: Fresh or frozen fruit is what provides the colour in an otherwise ordinary-looking parfait. They also contribute natural sweetness and give concentrated shots of flavour. Use berries, sliced bananas, diced mango or pineapple, citrus segments, peaches or plums.
3. Texture: To offset the creamier components, a crunchy element is included which could be anything between granola, crushed cookies or chopped nuts. 
4. Sweeteners: To make the parfait even sweeter, sweeteners such as honey, maple syrup, or fruit syrups are commonly drizzled between the parfait layers. 
5. Aromatics: Flavouring agents like vanilla, almond, or citrus zest usually go into the base infuse the whole parfait with its aroma and make for a pleasant olfactory experience. 

Where did it come from?

The word "parfait" comes from the French word meaning "perfect", and France made the world’s first parfaits as a frozen dessert, crafted from a custard base of sugar syrup, egg yolks, and cream. This rich custard was flavoured with fruit purees or chocolate, then whipped to incorporate air until light and airy in texture. Custards were cool in the 1800s and the complex dessert concoctions were just beginning to emerge back then.

In fact, the earliest known parfait recipe isn’t that old and dates back to 1894 in France. The French considered it the "perfect" frozen treat due to its velvety smooth, creamy consistency achieved without needing to be churned like ice cream. Instead, the parfait mixture was put into individual glasses or moulds and frozen, with periodic stirring to prevent ice crystal formation and turning it into the Italian Granita. 

The parfaits are traditionally served in elongated glasses, which are called parfait glasses. The frozen parfait from the past could be unmolded or served directly in the frozen glass. Popular flavours of the parfaits include coffee, vanilla, chocolate, and fruit parfaits include the likes of strawberry or raspberry.

As the parfait's popularity spread beyond France in the late 19th century to the early 20th century, other cultures began putting their own spin on it. In the United States, parfaits evolved into a layered ice cream dessert with syrups, whipped cream, nuts, and fruit layered between scoops of ice cream in a tall glass.

The concept expanded further into modern-day parfait variations layered with yoghurt, granola, pudding, and all manner of fruits, syrups, and crunchy toppings. While straying from the original French frozen custard version, these modern parfaits retain the core idea of a chilled, layered dessert served in a glass.

Strawberry Parfait Recipe

Ingredients

• 450 gm fresh strawberries
• 50 gm granulated sugar  
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 15 ml fresh lemon juice
• 180 gm digestive cookie crumbs
• 60 gm unsalted butter, melted
• 450 gm cream cheese, softened
• 400 ml condensed milk (sweet)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Wash the strawberries, remove the stalks and cut them into small pieces. Put them in a glass bowl, add the sugar, lemon juice and zest. Mix up and let it sit for 15 minutes to macerate. You can cover the surface with a plastic film.
2. If you haven't crushed the digestive biscuits yet, put them in a ziplock pouch and beat away with a rolling pin. 

3.Once they are fine crumbs, put in a bowl and add the melted butter, combine and keep aside.

4. Take a large bowl and add cream cheese to it, use an electric mixture on medium speed. Whip it well then add the sweet condensed milk and vanilla and whip again. Stop when the mixture is smooth.
5. Take your serving glasses and spoon some of the cream cheese into them. Add the digestive biscuits next, in a thin layer, followed by the macerated strawberries. Don't put the liquid of the strawberries in the parfait, you can store it to use for your cake batter. 
6. Repeat the layers until the glasses are full up to the brim.