Cooking Recipes

A Parfait Japanese Parfait!

Ice cream, pudding, cereal, fruit and cookies in one dessert? Say less.

Neil Patrick Harris is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Wondercade. In his spare time he also acts — fairly well, too, as his Tony and Emmy Awards can attest.

January 10, 2024 1:56 pm

A fresh, light dessert? Always something on my radar. Like this parfait packed with fruit and Japanese flavors, from Norie Uematsu, a New York-based pastry chef from Japan. As the executive pastry chef of Momoya SoHo, she creates a special seasonal parfait drawn from her Japanese heritage and childhood and, at times, makes subtle references to timely activities like cherry blossom or autumn leaf viewing…but this one is delicious no matter the time of year. (Pro tip: Add a heart-shaped cookie for Valentine’s Day.) Uematsu’s spring Haru Ranman parfait was declared NYC’s most complicated dessert by Grub Street…thankfully, this one’s a cinch to throw together, and it’s freakin’ delicious to boot. -NPH

Strawberry Parfait

Servings: 4 servings

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Ingredients

2 cups vanilla pudding or panna cotta (store-bought)
1 cup strawberry jam
¾ cup puffed rice cereal
2 cups matcha ice cream
2 cups vanilla ice cream
1 cup whipped cream

For Topping

1 cup diced strawberries
Ginger cookies, edible flowers and/or star-shaped candy, if desired

Directions

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1. Divide the vanilla pudding evenly between 4 wine glasses or parfait glasses.
2. In one glass, top the vanilla pudding with a layer of strawberry jam.
3. Top the strawberry jam with a handful of the cereal.
4. Add ½ scoop of matcha ice cream.
5. Top with ½ scoop vanilla ice cream.
6. Top the vanilla with a few tablespoons of whipped cream.
7. Decorate parfait with diced strawberries, ginger cookies, edible flowers and/or candy.
8. Repeat steps 2 through 7 for each glass.