Strawberry And Apricot Parfait Recipe

A well-made parfait is a thing of beauty that can highlight a handful of top-quality ingredients, elevating their flavors and nourishing your senses. Technically, a parfait refers to a dessert with layers of ice cream, fruit, and other ingredients. However, it can also refer to a more breakfast-leaning dish made with yogurt, fruit, and often granola. In either case, it's definitely a sweet, fruit-forward dish that can be a great opportunity to make the most of seasonal produce. Just at the tail end of spring, as summer rolls in, there are a few weeks where strawberries and apricots are both sweet and ripe at the market, which led to the origination of this recipe by Taylor Murray.

This strawberry and apricot parfait straddles the line between breakfast and dessert. "I swapped granola for crumbly scones to shake things up a bit, and I chose to add a bit of vanilla bean paste to a rich Greek yogurt that's both satisfying and packed with protein," says Murray. Hit up the farmer's market or produce aisle, and you're one step closer to discovering Murray's favorite thing about this recipe: that "super red, ripe strawberries and tart apricots are a match made in heaven."

This recipe highlights the short window between late spring and early summer, when fresh strawberries are at their best. While you can certainly combine the berries with fresh apricots as well, Murray opts for apricot jam. She macerates the berries with honey to coax out their juices and offset the tart jam, but be sure to taste your apricot jam before starting this recipe; if yours is on the sweeter side, you may want to cut some of the honey in the recipe. 

The other layers in this parfait are Greek yogurt, mixed with a touch of vanilla bean paste (or you can simply purchase vanilla bean yogurt), and a few crumbled-up scones. Murray likes lemon-glazed scones here, but any type will do.

Combine yogurt and vanilla paste in a medium bowl, stirring until smooth. Set aside.

Slice the strawberries.

In a separate bowl, combine the strawberries and honey, and set aside.

Divide apricot jam between 2 serving vessels, such as wine glasses or small jars.

Spoon about ½ cup yogurt into each glass.

Break the scones into small pieces and divide them between the glasses.

Add a few spoonfuls of strawberries to each glass, reserving some for topping.

Divide the remaining yogurt between the glasses.

Top with the remaining strawberries.

Serve immediately.

One of the best things about parfaits is how versatile and easily adaptable they are. While this recipe as written is not vegan, there are a few easy swaps you can do to make it so. First, you'll need to source a great-tasting vegan yogurt. Coconut and cashew yogurts are both known for their creaminess and flavor, which can ideally match the consistency of Greek yogurt. Apricot jam is likely vegan as-is, and the honey-macerated strawberries might work depending on your personal views on the subject of honey being vegan. 

Finally, the scones may or may not be vegan depending on the recipe. A high-quality vegan bakery in your area may have vegan scones available for purchase, or you could try your hand at making them from scratch. Of course, you could always skip the scones altogether in favor of something like granola or simple chopped toasted nuts. 

Technically speaking, you can use any kind of fruit in a parfait. If you can imagine eating the fruit with yogurt, it would be great in a parfait. Beginning with this recipe as a blueprint, you could change up the jam flavor, swapping the apricot for something like blueberry or raspberry. You could also switch up the fruits for whatever is in season, such as stone fruits — think plums, nectarines, and cherries — in the summer, or apples and pears in the fall.

When experimenting with different fruits to try in a parfait, always taste the raw fruit first to gauge how sweet it is and how much alteration it may need (or not). Strawberries from the grocery store in the middle of winter, for example, might need a good amount of sugar or honey to coax out the flavor, while summer-ripe peaches could be sweet enough on their own.