Parfait ( , , ; meaning "perfect") is either of two types of

dessert Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal; the course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream, and possibly a beverage, such as dessert wine or liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly umami, ...

. In France, where the dish originated, parfait is made by boiling cream, egg, sugar and syrup to create a

custard Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with Eggs as food, egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in con ...

-like or

meringue Meringue ( , ) is a type of dessert or candy, of French cuisine, French origin, traditionally made from Whisk, whipped egg whites and sugar, and occasionally an acid, acidic ingredient such as lemon, vinegar, or potassium bitartrate, cream of t ...

-like puree which is then frozen. The American version consists of layers differentiated by the inclusion of such ingredients as

granola Granola is a food consisting of rolled oats, nuts, seeds, honey or other sweeteners such as brown sugar, and sometimes puffed rice, that is usually baked until crisp, toasted and golden brown. The mixture is stirred while baking to avoid b ...

nuts Nut often refers to: * Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed * Nut (food), a dry and edible fruit or seed, including but not limited to true nuts * Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt Nut, NUT or Nuts may also refer to: A ...

yogurt Yogurt (; , from , ; also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial Fermentation (food), fermentation of milk. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to ...

and

liqueur A liqueur ( , ; ) is an alcoholic drink composed of Liquor, spirits (often rectified spirit) and additional flavorings such as sugar, fruits, herbs, and spices. Often served with or after dessert, they are typically heavily sweetened and un-age ...

s, topped off with fruits or

whipped cream Whipped cream, also known as Chantilly cream or (), is high-fat dairy cream that has been aerated by whisking until it becomes light, fluffy, and capable of holding its shape. This process incorporates air into the cream, creating a semi-soli ...

. French parfait is usually served in thick, decorated slices on a plate. American parfait is typically served in tall glassware together with a long spoon known as a

parfait spoon An iced tea spoon, also called a soda spoon or a latte spoon, is a thin spoon with a long handle. It is used primarily in the United States for stirring sugar or other sweeteners into iced tea, which is traditionally served in a tall glass. Orig ...

. The classical parfait glass is

stemware Stemware is drinkware where the bowl stands on a ''stem'' above a ''foot'' (base that allows to put the vessel down onto a table). It is usually made from glass, but may be made from ceramics or metals. The stemware is intended for cool bever ...

, with a short stem and a tall slender bowl, often tapered towards the bottom, also used for serving

milkshake A milkshake (sometimes simply called a shake) is a sweet beverage made by blending milk, ice cream, and flavorings or sweeteners such as butterscotch, caramel sauce, chocolate syrup, or fruit syrup into a thick, sweet, cold mixture. It may ...

s. In South Asia (particularly

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

), parfaits are made in bowl containers, rather than tall glasses.

History

A recipe for "parfait au café", a coffee-flavoured ice cream dessert made using a "parfait-mould" (un moule à parfait), was included in ''Le livre de cuisine'' by

Jules Gouffé Martin Jules Gouffé (; 1807 – 28 February 1877) was a French chef and pâtissier, nicknamed ("The apostle of decorative cooking"). He had a deep impact on the development of French gastronomy by publishing unusually simple and precise r ...

, first published in 1867, and translated into English as ''The Royal Cookery Book'' by his brother Alphonse Gouffé in 1869.

International adaptations

France

In France, ''parfait'' refers to a frozen dessert made from a base of sugar syrup, egg, and cream. A parfait contains enough fat, sugar, alcohol, and 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 Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from milk or cream that has been flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as Chocolate, cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food ...

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 Glycerol () is a simple triol compound. It is a colorless, odorless, sweet-tasting, viscous liquid. The glycerol backbone is found in lipids known as glycerides. It is also widely used as a sweetener in the food industry and as a humectant in pha ...

. Neither should be necessary when making a high-quality parfait.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, ''parfait'' can refer either to the French dessert or to a very smooth meat paste (or

pâté Pâté ( , , ) is a forcemeat. Originally, the dish was cooked in a pastry case; in more recent times it is more usually cooked without pastry in a terrine. Various ingredients are used, which may include meat from pork, poultry, fish or bee ...

), usually made from

liver The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...

(

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

goose A goose (: geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera '' Anser'' (grey geese and white geese) and '' Branta'' (black geese). Some members of the Tadorninae subfamily (e.g., Egy ...

) and sometimes sweetened with

United States

In the United States, ''parfait'' refers to either the traditional French-style dessert or to a popular variant, the American parfait, made by layering

, sometimes fruit and occasionally

s. It is usually served in a tall clear glass, but can also be served in a short, stubby glass. The clear glass allows the layers of the dessert to be seen. Parfaits can also be made by layering

with granola, nuts or fresh fruits (such as

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and Agriculture, cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called necta ...

es,

strawberries The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit is appreciated f ...

, or

blueberries Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' with the genus ''Vaccinium''. Commercial blueberries—both wild (lowbush) ...

). This version is sometimes called a ''yogurt parfait'' or ''fruit parfait''.

References

External links

Allrecipes.com: Parfait Recipes
{{Ice cream Sundaes Yogurt-based dishes French desserts Creamy dishes