Berries and Cream Parfaits with Graham Cracker Crumble

Today's recipe should be accompanied by a photo of a seriously adorable little two-year old boy helping devour one of these cutesie parfaits whilst showing off his heart-melting smiles and signature goofy character. It makes me sad that I missed watching him eat this by the spoonful, but I've already been able to tell that he'll be a top-notch taste-tester for me when he's older. I love that at the age of 2 years old his love for food is apparent. We're so obviously related. :)

It makes me happy happy happy when I come up with a super-simple recipe that also winds up being super good, and that's exactly what happened here. This was a total all-of-a-sudden, what-can-I-make-for-the-4th type of recipe that happened this week, and the fact that eight of these parfaits were made and consumed in the course of two days, sans-4th of July party, makes me 5000% sure that I'm not the only one who was happy with them.  This is especially true since seven of those eight parfaits were definitley not eaten by me. (Around here, you have to guard your food like gold or risk having it disappear before you can get your hands on it).

 Think of this as a glorified parfait / no-bake fruit crumble. There's fresh berries, an ultra-luscious cream cheese whipped cream, and a crunchy, golden-brown graham cracker crumble topping that I want to eat for days. It's light, summery, and filled with layered goodness, which is always fun.

 There's bright, plump, juicy red strawberries...

And dusty-blue blueberries, which I've just decided are the most gorgeous fruits ever.

 The whole ensemble reminds me of a fresh fruit tart (think these from a past fourth of july) but with something a little more unexpected thanks to the cream cheese-ified whipped cream and crispy graham cracker crumble. Soooo good. It's also really, really easy to put together, because I realize that entertaining is a ton of work and nobody has time for complicated desserts when they're busy making a million other dishes. The good news: it literally takes 5 minutes to cook the crumble topping to golden-brown perfection on the stove, and another 3-ish minutes to make the whipped cream. Assemble and you can have dessert done in 15 minutes flat. BAM. We're done. :)

Berries and Cream Cream Parfaits w/ Graham Cracker Crumble

Combining fresh berries with cream cheese whipped cream and a graham cracker crumble topping creates a light, simple, and easy dessert that's perfect for summer entertaining,

• Yield: 8 parfaits 1x

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Graham Cracker Crumble

• 3 ounces (1 cup) coarsely crushed graham cracker*
• 2 ⅛ ounces (½ cup, spoon and level) whole wheat pastry flour**
• 1 ⅞ ounces (¼ cup, packed) brown sugar
• heavy pinch of salt
• 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted

Cream Cheese Whipped Cream

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 3 ¼ ounces (6 tablespoons) sour cream
• 12 ⅜ ounces (1 ½ cups) heavy cream
• 5 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• pinch (or two) of salt, to taste

Mixed Berries*

• 10 ounces (2 cups) hulled and chopped strawberries
• 10 ounces (2 cups) blueberries
• extra berries, for garnish

Instructions

Graham Cracker Crumble

1. In a bowl, whisk together the crushed graham cracker, pastry flour, brown sugar, and salt. Add the melted butter and mix in until the mixture is crumbly and all of the dry ingredients are coated in butter.
2. Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Transfer crumble mixture to skillet in a flat layer and cook for about 5 minutes, watching closely and stirring frequently to prevent burning. Remove from heat and allow to cool while prepping other components.

Cream Cheese Whipped Cream

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the wire whip attachment, beat the cream cheese and sour cream together on medium-high speed until smooth (a few small lumps are fine). Add the heavy cream and continue to beat on medium-high until thickened. Add the sugar, vanilla, and salt (to taste) and beat in just until the whipped cream holds its shape.

Mixed Berries

1. Toss fruit together in a bowl.

Assembly

1. Using eight 7 ½ ounce jars**** or other vessel of choice, spoon a thin layer of crumble into the bottom of each. Divide fruit evenly between each one. Dollop whipped cream on top and sprinkle with extra crumble. Top with fresh berries and serve.

Notes

*I used a mortar and pestle to crush my graham crackers. You want to end up with a mixture of fine crumbs and coarse bits.

**If you don't have whole wheat pastry flour, white pastry flour or all-purpose flour would also work.

***Feel free to use any combination of berries (blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, etc.) for the fruit layer; just keep the total amount at 4 cups of fruit.

****I used Weck #762 jars , but Ball Half Pint Jars and Kerr Half Pint Jars would also be about the right size.

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