Left-Over Series- Berry Cake Parfait

We are almost 10 days in the new year! And do u have a refrigerator yet filled with cakes of all sorts? If you do, then this article is tailor made for you.  

Christmas this year was much bigger than what I had thought of it to be. Lots of edible gifts landed my way, including some exotic stuff like this mouth-watering jar of Bhut-Jholokia pickle to the usual fare of rum cakes and cookies.

About a fortnight gone, and all these bits and pieces of stale cakes are haunting my refrigerator. Add to it all the Christmas baking that I specifically did for my friends and family, and you know I have a big sweetish problem to tackle for some days to come. So I reckoned, it just can’t be me, but many more like me with the same problem. So this post is a shout out to all you disturbed souls, who hate throwing, but can’t keep junking on so much sweets as well. I am going to try and transform all these sweets into drool worthy desserts to be served to your guests while you entertain your first parties of this receding winter. First in the series is my Berry-Cake Parfait, which look so so pretty in these see through borosil glasses. Second would be an Indian twist to this layered dessert, with homemade fresh custard served with Gulab Jamun Parfait.

Berry - Cake Parfait

Ingredients

Now, this recipe cannot come with any set measurements. The amounts will vary upon the number of layers that will go in it, and the thickness of each layer that you want to put on.

A handful of quick cooking oats

A handful of old biscuits or cookies smashed

A pinch of cinnamon

A blob of salted butter

A big handful of any flavour of stale cake smashed

100 to 200 gms of fresh strawberries/plums or any other fruits that will soften on cooking

Lemon juice

Sugar to taste

A pinch of salt

Method

First prep the strawberries. Wash and clean it thoroughly, and chop it to small bite sized pieces.

Season the pieces well with lemon juice and sugar. Microwave this mix for half a minute at a time, till the berries are soft and cooked through. Mix in a small bit of butter while the berries are still hot, and set it aside to cool completely.

In a pan over medium heat, dry roast the oats till fragrant.  You may add some chopped nuts too in the pan, for added crunch. Remove from heat and add the smashed biscuits to the hot pan. Mix both these well and set it aside to cool down the mix and the hot pan. This will ensure that the parfait toppings won’t attract condensation, and instead remain crunchy as it slowly cools with the pan.

Now to assemble, take a clean see through glass like so, and brush the bottom with a bit of melted butter. Add the berry mix in the bottom. Follow it up with a good sprinkling of the oats and cookie mixture. Another layer of berry mix followed with crumbled cake. Continue like so to create a beautiful mix of colours and flavours in the little glass. This should be served in room temperature, not too chilled. A blob of vanilla ice cream will compliment all these flavours even better.

Now tell me, if your guests won’t end up gaga-ing on this beautiful master piece? Cheers!!

Next up would be the pretty glass of Gulab Jamun Parfait, so stay tuned to return back tomorrow!!