Strawberry and Shortbread Parfait

This recipe is part of a six course brunch.

One of the simplest ways you can make your brunch table fancy is by serving yoghurt parfaits! They look so elegant and fresh and will seamlessly match the flowers and decor.

Strawberries are especially fitting for springtime brunch, I think. Most people are huge fans of strawberries and cream, and I also like strawberry shortcake AND shortbread biscuits in general. (Note that shortcake and shortbread are two different things, but similar enough to make a connection!). I decided to combine the strawberries with the shortbread and a sprinkle of chocolate Easter eggs to make things festive.

Using strawberry-flavoured yoghurt will help enhance the flavour, so I recommend that. For texture through the crunch, you can use toasted muesli or granola in addition to the rich, buttery shortbread.

Eat this for brunch or as a snack. The great thing about parfaits is that they are super customizable, so go at it!

Ingredients

2 cartons strawberry yoghurt (I used dairy-free from Silk)

1/2 cup strawberries, chopped into small pieces

4 shortbread biscuits (2 per serving, you can use more)

1/2 cup muesli or granola (1/4 cup per serving)

Whipped cream (optional)

Cadbury mini chocolate eggs (optional)

Instructions

Toast the muesli on a baking tray on broil (500F) for about 3-4 minutes; keep an eye on it! Set aside.

Prepare your mise en place - make sure your strawberries are cleaned, dried, and chopped. Crush your shortbread biscuits with a kitchen hammer - they can be as fine or as roughly chopped as you prefer.

In a parfait glass or appropriate glassware, start assembling your parfait. Layer the strawberries, followed by the toasted muesli, yoghurt, shortbread, and continue in that order until you get to the top.

Top with whipped cream, chocolate eggs, and extra strawberries, enjoy! This recipe serves two, so you can double up the quantities for more servings.

Overnight Oats Mango Parfait

A good breakfast or pre-workout snack always makes me feel better in the morning. Typically I eat my oats the traditional way, cooked over the stovetop with milk, water, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Overnight oats, however, are an even quicker way to have oats ready to eat when pressed for time or hurry. There is no need to warm the oats up either, but you can if you want to! The point of leaving them overnight is for them to absorb the milk and flavour. You will get a nice, smooth consistency similar to porridge.

I used old-fashioned rolled oats as that what I had in the pantry, but you'll want these over instant oats if possible, so the overnight oats maintain their integrity and don't end up soggy from the milk.

I took this a step further by transferring the oats to another container and building a parfait (which is a popular way to eat them) with more fruit and the same yoghurt mixed in before, but you can eat them as they are too!

Ingredients

2/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup fresh mango, chopped + extra for topping

2/3 cup almond milk (or milk of your choosing)

1 cup mango peach almond yogurt (I used two containers from Silk)

2 teaspoons maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Pinch of nutmeg

1 teaspoon chia seeds

Instructions

Directly in a mason jar, add all the ingredients (but use only 1/2 the yoghurt) and mix until evenly distributed. Place the jar on the fridge overnight. (This serving is for a single person - or two! - So double the recipe accordingly and use multiple jars).

The next morning, get a second jar for each serving when you are ready to build your parfait. Layer the fresh mango, the remaining yoghurt, scooping the oats from the first jar to the second. Finally, top with whipped cream and diced mango. Enjoy!