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Making layered desserts is a true stress-buster for me; so much of creativity and imagination goes into deciding the flavors and matching ingredients! Though it is time consuming, I thoroughly enjoy preparing them and of course relish them too as every portion of the it has different flavors and textures.
The Fruit Parfait recipe here is one such layered dessert with layers of blueberry compote, fruit custard, chia pudding, fresh fruits, white chocolate mousse, garnished with crushed pistachios and dried rose; so many flavors and textures!
Serves: 6 to 10 depending on the serving glass size
Ingredients:
For Chia Pudding:
Chia Seeds – 1/2 cup
Unsweetened Milk (dairy/non-dairy) – 2 cups
Sugar – 1/4 cup
Vanilla Extract – 1 teaspoon
Cinnamon Powder – 1/2 teaspoon
For Blueberry Compote:
Blueberry – 1 1/2 cups
Sugar – 1/2 cup
Water – 1 cup
Cornflour – 1 1/2 teaspoons
Lemon Juice – 1 tablespoon
For Fruit Custard Layer:
Custard Powder – 6 tablespoons
Milk – 3 cups + 3 tablespoon
Sugar – 3/4 cup
Pear, ripened – 1
Banana, ripened – 2
For White Chocolate Mousse:
White Chocolate -700 gms
Heavy Cream – 3 cups
Ripe Kiwi, chopped – 2 cups
Black Grapes, chopped – 1 cup
Pistachios
Dry Rose Petals (optional)
Serving glasses – I used stemless wine glasses
Pastry bag
Method:
Chia Pudding:
- Take chia seeds, milk, sugar, vanilla extract and cinnamon powder in a bowl. Mix well and let it soak for 8 hours or overnight under refrigeration.
- The pudding should be thick and not runny. If you feel it is too thick, you can adjust the consistency by adding a little more milk.
- Keep it refrigerated until you begin assembling it in dessert glasses.
Blueberry Compote:
- In a sauce pan, take blueberry and water. Boil until the berries, cook until they are soft and slightly mushy.
- Now add sugar and continue to simmer.
- Dilute corn flour in 2 tablespoon of water and add to the cooking berries. Mix well.
- Add lemon juice, mix well and cook until the sauce thickens little bit. Turn off the heat and allow it to cool down to room temperature. The compote is now ready and will thicken little more on cooling.
- Refrigerate until you begin assembling it in dessert glasses.
Fruit Custard:
- Bring milk to boil.
- Add sugar and boil until the sugar melts. Turn off the heat.
- Dilute custard powder in cold milk and pour the mixture into the boiling milk. Mix well.
- Turn on the heat and cook on low flame until custard thickens. The custard must be thick in a semi solid state and not runny.Turn off the heat and allow it to cool down to room temperature. On cooling, custard thickens more.
- Meanwhile peel and chop pear fruit and banana. When the prepared custard is at room temperature, add the chopped fruits. Mix well.
- Refrigerate until you begin assembling it in dessert glasses.
White Chocolate Mousse:
- Chop the white chocolate.
- Take half the quantity of heavy whipping cream in a sauce pan. Heat it on medium heat until it gets hot and slightly bubbly on the edges. Do NOT let the mixture come to a boil.Turn off the heat.
- Add chopped chocolate to the hot cream and whisk continuously until all the chocolate melts. Continue to whisk until the cream and chocolate are well combined and the mixture turns creamy. Keep it aside to allow it cool down to room temperature.
- Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, whip the other half quantity of the heavy whipping cream and vanilla extract until you get soft peaks.
- Gently fold in the prepared chocolate mixture that is at room temperature to the whipped cream and gently
- Refrigerate until you begin assembling it in dessert glasses.
Assembling the dessert:
- Place the serving glasses on a surface.
- Divide and pour the prepared blueberry compote equally into each serving glass.
- Next add a layer of prepared fruit custard into each serving glass.
- Now add a layer of prepared Chia pudding into each serving glass.
- Top it up with a layer of chopped kiwis and black grapes.
- Fill a pastry bag with prepared white chocolate mousse and add a layer of mousse on top of the fruit layer.
- garnish with crumbled rose petals, crushed pistachios and saffron strands.
- Cover all glasses tightly. I prefer to clog wrap the glasses. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or until you serve.
Note:
- Prepare each layering the day before you plan to serve, so that there is enough time for you assemble the dessert and then let it refrigerate again for at least 4 hours.
- Instead of blueberry, you can make strawberry or raspberry or mixed berry compote.
- For Fruit custard, you can add other fruits like chopped mango, apples, grapes, pomegranate etc.,
- For Chia pudding, I have used unsweetened almond milk. You can you any milk of your choice.
- For the fruit layer, you can add other fruits like chopped pineapple, strawberries, cherries, etc.
- Adding rose petals is optional.
