Berry Parfait Recipe

The first step in making Berry Parfaits is to combine the berries with a little sugar, which sweetens the berries and allows them to soften and release their juices. (Although I have used fresh berries for these Parfaits, feel free to use any combination of fresh berries and/or fresh fruit.) Once the berries have started to release their juices, after about 30 minutes, we begin layering our parfaits. You can use long stem wine glasses, water glasses or any pretty glass. Also, you can make these Berry Parfaits as big or as small as you please, so use this recipe as a guide only. As I mentioned above, the 'cream' part of the recipe combines heavy whipping cream with Mascarpone Cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract. (Mascarpone Cheese (pronounced mas-kahr-POH-nay) is a thick, buttery-rich, delicately sweet and velvety, ivory-colored cheese is produced from cow's milk. Its texture is similar to that of sour cream and it is sold in plastic 8-ounce tubs that you can usually find it in specialty food stores and in the deli section of your local grocery store. But if you cannot find Mascarpone a good substitute would be regular cream cheese.) Then we simply place a scoopful of berries in each glass, followed by a dollop of cream and repeat the layers. If you have fresh mint on hand you can decorate each glass with a sprig and, if not serving immediately, cover and place in the refrigerator until serving time. Try to remove this dessert from the fridge about 15 minutes before serving as berries are always at their best when served at room temperature.