I love fruit based desserts in the summer, full of natural, juicy sweetness! This is a quick and easy parfait that you can make with any fresh, ripe fruit that you have on hand. I used strawberries and kiwis for a bright & colorful combination. Layered with vanilla bean cream and sweet, crunchy pecans, this combination of flavors and textures is so yummy!
Pretty Parfait
serves 4
For the fruit:
- 2 cups sliced strawberries
- 4 kiwis, peeled, cut in half and sliced
*or any fruit combination of your choice
For the Vanilla Bean Cream:
- ¾ cup macadamia nuts, soaked for 2-4 hours, drained and rinsed
- 3 oz water
- 2 tablespoons raw honey
- seeds of one vanilla bean
- ¼ cup coconut oil
Place macadamia nuts, water, honey and vanilla in a high-speed blender. Blend on high until smooth. With the blender running, add coconut oil and blend until just combined.
For the Pecan Crunchies:
- 2 tablespoons of raw honey
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup raw pecans, preferably soaked for 4-6 hours and dehydrated for 24 hours until crisp
- ¼ cup shredded coconut
Mix honey, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Roughly chop the pecans either by hand or in a food processor. Keep them chunky. Add pecans to the honey mixture and stir well to coat. Sprinkle with coconut and mix well.
For each parfait, layer as follows:
1. ¼ cup strawberries
2. ½ of a kiwi
3. 2 tablespoons Vanilla Bean Cream
4. ¼ cup Pecan Crunchies
5. ¼ cup strawberries
6. ½ of a kiwi
7. 2 tablespoons Vanilla Bean Cream
8. garnish with any extra fruit
9. 2 tablespoons Pecan Crunchies
Enjoy with pleasure!
Natalia
Natalia is the chef/owner of Glowing Temple, a raw and living foods inspiration, creation and education service based in Sarasota, Florida. She strives to create recipes focusing on local and seasonal ingredients and never compromises when it comes to organics. Natalia wishes to share the joy she has discovered through a clean, green diet. Recently, she created an organic live & vegan menu for Mi Pueblo’s University location. Find her on Twitter @NataliaKW and Facebook.
Wow- this looks so delicious Natalia! I can't wait to try it. I love your passion and creativity.
You gotta try this, it was sooo yummy!!
I've never heard of soaking nuts before, but it's a technique you seem to use a lot. I would love more information on how to do that and what it does. Thanks!
I went to Richards to get some ingredients today – can't wait to try it out tomorrow! Yes, I want to know more about soaking those enzymes out of the nuts and drying them out, too! Also, what is that blender you're using?! It's not a blendtec, is it? I don't have a million dollars, but I want one!
Hey ladies! Thanks so much for watching! Here's some info on soaking nuts & seeds:
http://www.veggiewave.com/soaking_chart
If you're making a cream as with the macadamias in this recipe or you're going to add other liquids, not need to dry. If you're making something like the crunchies, you will want to dehydrate (I recommend the excalibur dehydrator) at 105 degrees for about 24 hours.
I used the vitamix blender for the cream. If you're picky about the consistency, you will want to get the most powerful blender that fits into your budget!
Wishes of Bliss!
Natalia
OH WOW! I made it for my husband and me this morning with my food processor! I feel ultra inspired! DELICIOUS!
This is simply too sublime to even think that it is healthy too! With recipes like this it will not be difficult to convince the average person to try a raw food diet, if only for a little while. Once you're hooked you'll never go back. The long term health implications of not going the green and organic route are staggering. You're pretty much guaranteed cancer or heart disease in return for living the refined western diet and associated lifestyle.
Choice of ingredients are non negotiable, and the more you can grow yourself, the better. I use bat guano, pure worm castings and volcanic rock dust as part of my soil preparation, and the veggies that I grow are packed full of minerals and trace elements from the rock dust. One of the best health choices a person can make is to grow their own nutrient dense, mineral rich produce on healthy, living remineralized soils.