This beautiful parfait is made with alternating layers of strawberry curd mousse, strawberry curd, and fresh pureed strawberries. It's light and fluffy and makes a dreamy dessert. Garnish it with fresh strawberries for extra flavor.
Servings 88-oz. Parfaits
Prep Time 40 minutesmins
Cook Time 20 minutesmins
Ingredients
1lb.strawberries3 cups chopped
1cupgranulated sugar
2tablespoonsfresh lemon juice
6whole eggsbeaten
Strawberry Curd Mousse
1cupstrawberry curdsave the remaining curd to layer in the parfaits
1 1/2cupsheavy whipping cream
*2 egg whitesor the equivalent – see notes above
*2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Instructions
Remove stems from strawberries and coarsely chop.
Add strawberries to a medium saucepan, along with the granulated sugar and fresh lemon juice. Stir well with a whisk to blend. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened and syrupy, approximately 10-15 minutes.
Remove from heat and mash the pulp through a sieve to separate the pulp and the liquid. Discard the pulp and cool the strawberry syrup to room temperature.
Whisk together the cooled strawberry mixture with beaten eggs and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often with a wire whisk, until thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. This will take about 4-5 minutes. The curd should be smooth and the stirring helps keep it that way, and yet somehow the pesky lumps can still form. But don’t worry about that too much.
Simply strain the curd through a mesh sieve while it’s still hot and discard the lumps.
Cool the curd to room temperature. If making ahead of time, refrigerate until you're ready to make the mousse.
Strawberry Curd Mousse
In a mixing bowl, beat heavy cream to stiff peaks with an electric beater. Reserve 1/4 cup of the whipped cream for garnish on top of mousse parfaits.
In a separate bowl, beat egg whites with sugar to stiff peaks. (Or, if using meringue powder, follow these directions.)
1 lb. fresh strawberries, stems removed. Set aside 2-3 strawberries for garnish and purée the rest of the berries in the food processor until smooth. Set aside and refrigerate until ready to use. (This part gives the dessert the beautiful red color.)
Assembling the Mousse Parfaits
In your favorite glasses, spoon a layer of strawberry curd mousse at the bottom of each glass. Next, spoon a layer of plain strawberry curd, followed by a layer of puréed strawberries.
Repeat the process until you’ve used up all of the ingredients, ending with pureed strawberries on top, if possible.
Refrigerate until ready to serve. When serving, spoon a dollop of the reserved whipped cream on top of each parfait and garnish with a slice of strawberry.