Updated March 27, 2024
Usually served in a specially styled glass, layers of fruit, yogurt or ice cream, and nuts, chocolate or even whipped cream are the ingredients on National Parfait Day on November 25.
- Middle Ages – Before dessert, as we know it today, the aristocrats eat fruits after meals.
- 16th Century – Chefs craft elaborate sugar sculptures to serve as the centerpiece during dessert.
- 17th Century – After the French Revolution, individual desserts replace the fruit course.
- 1869 – The oldest recipe with the name parfait comes from a French cookbook dated 1869.
- 1894 – A French word that literally means perfect was originally used to describe a kind of frozen dessert beginning in 1894.
- The original parfait recipe was a frozen coffee-flavoured French ice dessert constructed in parfait-shaped (tall and thin) ice cream moulds.
- Parfait refers to a frozen dessert made from a base of sugar syrup, egg, and cream. A parfait contains enough fat, sugar, alcohol and/or to a lesser extent air to allow it to be made by stirring infrequently while freezing, making it possible to create in a home kitchen without specialist equipment.
- The fat, sugar, alcohol or air interferes with the formation of water crystals, which would otherwise give the ice cream an uncomfortable texture in the mouth. The formation of ice crystals is managed in the making of regular ice cream by agitating the ice cream constantly while it freezes or chemically by adding glycerol.
In the United States, parfaits are served in the traditional French style by layering parfait cream, ice cream, gelato or pudding in a clear, tall glass topped with whipped cream, fruit or liqueurs.
The Northern United States expanded on the parfait and began to use yogurt layered with nuts or granola or fresh fruits which may be, but are not limited to, strawberries, blueberries, bananas or peaches. This idea spread quickly across all parts of the country, and the yogurt parfait gained popularity as a breakfast item.
Times have changed over the years, and now parfaits are made up of almost any dessert combination that works well put into layers in a tall, clear glass, ranging from crushed Oreo cookies and cheesecake with whipped cream to angel food cake pieces and lemon cream filling with whipped cream.
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