Fruit And Yogurt Parfait Recipe

  "Women are the real architects of the society"

                                                            Harriet Beecher Stowe

Yes you guessed it right..my post today is to cherish womanhood as we celebrate International Women's Day. To be born as a girl child is He's wish and if Almighty has chosen you to be a woman feel pride in it. To be happy each day and make lives around us merrier is certainly under our control. To all the wonderful women out there reading this post i want to say just one thing that while we perform our duties of a daughter, sister, friend, colleague, wife, daughter-in-law , mother and much more at home and at work and give our best , we need to learn one more thing and that is to love ourselves first by taking good care of ourselves, before we take care of others , by being bold and taking pride in whatever we do and most importantly believing in ourselves . So breathe deep, eat healthy and just smile ! 

Simply being a woman , is enough reason to pamper our taste buds on this special day and there could be no better way than to have a delicious parfait packed with healthy goodness of fruits and yogurt to start the day with !

 A parfait is a dessert in which layers of ice cream and fruits are packed in tall glasses and topped with whipped cream. Here i have made a fruit and yogurt parfait , where in i have layered  beautiful tall dessert glasses  with flavored yogurt, seasonal fruits and muesli. To make a delicious fruit and yogurt parfait is very easy and hardly takes any time. This no cook delicious dish  can be had as a healthy and filling breakfast or a mid day snack or as a dessert. Best part is you can make this dessert ahead of time. This colorful dessert can certainly lift ones mood . This refreshing dessert can not only quench your thirst on a hot summer day but also give you a feeling of fullness. 

 You can make it with Greek yogurt or any flavored yogurt and fruits of your choice. To give the dish a crunch , dry fruits, crushed cookies , cornflakes or muesli can be added.I have made this dessert from scratch. I tied the home made curd into a muslin cloth and allowed it to hang for about 10-15 minute , which gave me thick curd. Next i divided it into two parts, flavored one part with strawberry crush and the other part with honey. You can flavor the yogurt with crush of your favourite fruit like, mango ,  strawberry or simply add some honey and or vanilla extract. I had a strawberry crush ready at hand which i bought from Mapro in Mahabaleshwar so used it here.

 You can make a crush at home by simply blending the fruit with required amount of  sugar to get a puree. The strawberry crush not only imparted a gorgeous pink color to the yogurt but also lend a refreshing tangy, fruity flavor to the parfait. I have used fresh fruits like, strawberry, banana, kiwi , orange and black grapes in this dessert. You may add any seasonal fruits of your choice. 

So without wasting any time lets quickly look at the ingredients and method of this creamy delicious dessert from scratch. Those intending to use store bought Greek yogurt, just arrange a tall dessert glass with layers of muesli, yogurt and chopped fresh fruits and nuts of your choice and enjoy !

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 0 minutes 

Serves :2 tall glasses and 2 shot glasses

Ingredients: Measurements used 1 cup = 200 ml

• 2 cup low fat home made curd
• 2 cup chopped fruits of your choice ( i have used kiwi , strawberry, orange, banana and grapes)
• 2 tablespoon strawberry crush (crush 4-5 strawberries with 1 tablespoon sugar using a blender)
• 2 tablespoon honey
• 1 cup Muesli / cornflakes / crushed cookies or biscuits

Method:

1. Line a colander with a muslin cloth. Add 2 cup store bought or home made curd to it. Gather the edges and tie a knot. Hang this cloth over a kitchen sink for 10-15 minutes. This step removes the extra water from the curd and makes is creamy and thick.

  2. Meanwhile chop the fruits and except banana , refrigerate the rest fruits until  use. Also keep the empty dessert glasses into the refrigerator .

  3. Roughly divide the yogurt in 2 bowls. To one part add the strawberry crush and whisk with a wire whisker to get a smooth, lump free yogurt.

  4. To the other part add honey and whisk. You may add vanilla extract also here.

  5. Take the chilled dessert glasses, fruits , flavored yogurt and muesli and start assembling the dessert.

  6. There is no fixed method for this you can arrange the ingredients in any order. I have started with a layer of muesli. Add 2 spoons of honey flavored yogurt over it. Then a layer of chopped mixed fruits. Above it add 2 spoons of strawberry flavored yogurt , top it with a layer of muesli and so on. Repeat the layers until the glass id fulled. Lastly top the glass with chopped nuts or fruit crush or honey or caramel .

  7. Serve immediately or chill the glasses until serving time.

 Notes:

• You can use store bought flavored yogurt or Greek yogurt to make this dessert.
• If you do not have muesli or cornflakes, you can simply take 3-4 cookies or any biscuits is a zip lock bag and crush them and use it as one of the layer of the parfait to give crunch to the dessert.
• In place of strawberry crush, mango , blueberry or other fruit crush can be used to flavor the yogurt.
• Chill the glasses and fruits before assembling the dessert.
• Any seasonal fruits can be added in this dessert.
• Adjust the quantity of honey as per the sourness of the yogurt used.\
• You can top the parfait with scoop of ice cream or whipped cream or a caramel sauce for variation.

 Hope you would love to try out this easy yet delicious and healthy dessert and treat yourselves.

For more such desserts, do check my post on

• Mango Falooda
• Egg-less Strawberry Mousse
• Ragi Chocolate Milk Shake
• Dragon Fruit and Banana Smoothie
• Roselle Drink
• Dates, Almond and Walnut Milk Shake