Strawberry Parfaits

[Alky]

Now that strawberries are in season I just thought I mention how good the strawberry parfaits were in the May issue. I made them last night for dinner ahead of time in wine goblets and stored in fridge. They were very tasty, light and refreshing for dessert.
We will definately be having these again this season, perhaps for company next time! I forgot to mention that I blended the ricotta mixture in the food processor until smooth instead of mixing my hand.

[This message has been edited by Alky (edited 05-18-2001).]

[CHRIST1NE]

speaking of parfaits..... have any of you tried the ones from McDonalds? I am definately addicted to them. I do them w/out granola and top it with Fiber One ceral instead. A nice lunch alternative to the usual.

The CL parfaits are also on my list to try - glad to hear they were winners.

[Wienie]

Alky, I agree, this was a very refreshing dessert. And so easy. Next time I will process the ricotta mixture, as you did. I did it by hand and it was a bit grainy, but still very good flavors.
Jeanne

[Irene Bartlett]

I made these already three times. Love it ! I bought fat free cream cheese instead of less fat and it was delicious (don't know if it's better with less fat cream chees though !)

[valchemist]

Oh wow, these Strawberry Parfaits are yummy!!

The sweet strawberry sauce perfectly balanced the not-too-sweet "cream" concoction. And the amaretti cookies added just the right touch (I used over a dozen instead of just the eight or so that the recipe suggested).

My husband said "these are really good" at least three times as he was devouring his parfait.

Definite repeater here!!!!

[Leonard]

I gave a review of this dessert. Like I stated before, I goofed and used regular cream cheese I had on hand. Boy, were these parfaits "heavy". It was like eating cream cheese "straight up". My mistake. Guess I should learn to follow directions!

[valchemist]

just one more note...

we had one leftover parfait. my husband ate it the next day and said it was definitely better on the first day. not surprising, but I thought I would pass it along. you wouldn't want to prepare these too far in advance.

[Grace]

Sorry to be the lone dissenter, here, but I wasn't wild about these. After all the great reviews I expected to be blown away, but these were just "ok", and I am not willing to "spend" 350 cals and 12 grams of fat for just "ok". I'd rather eat CL's Strawberry Shortcake recipe!!!

Again, these were good, and I made six out of the recipe instead of the 4 the recipe states, and I only had part-skim ricotta on hand instead of Fat Free, so that actually upped the fat grams even more (6 more grams per serving! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/eek.gif ), so I'm even more glad I divided it into six instead of four. If I ever DO make these again (not likely), I'll definitely use the fat free ricotta and try the fat free cream cheese too. I like fat free products in general, so it would probably still taste good to me.

Oh, and I didn't want to go to the store for amaretti cookies, so I made a batch homemade from a recipe from Cook's Illustrated a few years back (it was in a section on making Trifles). The cookies were the best part, I think!

And one more thing, this took a whole bunch of dishes to make - (I guess I'm taking into account making the cookies too), but it just seemed to be a real pain and lots of clean up.


[This message has been edited by Grace (edited 05-24-2001).]

[BlueMoose]

I made these last night , and I thought they were very easy to make and REALLY yummy. I crushed the cookies in a plastic bag and used the blender for both the strawberries and the ricotta mixture, so the clean up was minimal. I had my parents over to try them with us and my mom and I agreed that they were good enough to serve to guests. I will definitely make these again. I also think they would be good made with peaches and ginger cookies! Maybe with a dash of cinnamon on top. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[Sledge]

What are amaretti cookies? Are they similar to biscotti?

I couldn't find them in my local grocery store, so I made these parfaits with angelineti cookies (or something like that)--very soft almost cake like cookies with sugar coating--probably upped the calorie count about a bazillion!!!! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/eek.gif The parfaits were delicious though! But would like to make them with the intended ingredients.

[valchemist]

amaretti cookies are not the same as biscotti. They are little round crispy Italian cookies. Here is what the Epicurious website has to say:

[am-ah-REHT-tee]
Intensely crisp, airy MACAROON cookies that are made either with bitter-ALMOND PASTE or its flavor counterpart, apricot-kernel paste. In the United States, pairs of paper-wrapped Amaretti di Saronno (made with apricot-kernel paste) are sold under the label of Lazzaroni.

They are very sweet and crunchy...actually they don't taste too much like almonds to me. But anyway, I found mine in TJ Maxx (a clothing/gift store out here in the East). You will be able to find them in a gourmet food store...they are hard to find in a regular grocery store (unless the grocery store has a good ethnic food department). They do go wonderfully with this recipe, so it is worth it to try to find them.

[Irene Bartlett]

I found the amaretti cookies at my grocery store (Genuardi's) with the italian specialties. Actually they taste a lot like the liquor (Amaretto). My MIL didn't find them and put different cookies in it. She didn't like it. I prepared them with the amaretti on mother's day and she found them delicious. She said that the cookies made the difference. They have a strong flavor and are really crispy.

[AndreaU]

Christine, I tried the McDonald's Parfait and also liked it! If anyone here subscribes to the Nutrition Action Healthletter (put out by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, or CSPI), I believe this is the ONLY McDonald's menu item to get a thumbs up on the back page. As you mentioned, leave off the granola and you leave off some fat and calories. It was very refreshing on a disgustingly hot, humid day!

[CHRIST1NE]

AndreaU, I'm so glad you enjoyed them. Try the Fiber One on top - it tastes crunchy like granola, it's only 60 calories per 1/2 cup + you get the benefit of fiber http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[aggie94]

I wish I had reread this thread before making these the other night. I blended the ricotta and cream cheese mixture by hand, and was disappointed with the grainy texture. Otherwise, they were delicious. I'm planning to make these again for dinner guests this weekend, so I'll be sure to process the cheese mixture this time to smooth it out. LOVE strawberry season!

[lbudis]

I made these for company the first time around and they said it was going to become their favorite dessert! I will be making these again for Father's Day with freshly picked strawberries - YUM! Valchemist, thanks for the tip about not making them ahead. I will now prep the ingredients before hand and assemble just prior to serving.