Lemon Berry Parfaits
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 1¼ cups sugar
- ½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, from 3 large lemons
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest (see note below)
- 1 cup whipping cream, chilled
- 5 cups assorted fresh berries (if using strawberries, cut into bite-size pieces)
- A few springs fresh mint, for garnish
- 4 to 6 shortbread or ginger cookies, optional
Instructions
- Crack the eggs into a medium bowl and beat well. Add the sugar and lemon juice and whisk until sugar is mostly dissolved. Set aside.
- Fill the bottom of a double boiler pan with an inch of water. Bring to a simmer, then turn the heat down to low. Melt the butter in the top of double boiler. Add the egg mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until smooth and thick enough to coat a metal spoon, about 10 minutes. (If you get any bits of cooked egg, pass the mixture through a fine sieve to remove.) Stir in the lemon zest and pour into a shallow bowl. Chill in the refrigerator until cold.
- Pour the chilled whipping cream into the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until the cream holds firm peaks (when you lift the whisk or beaters out of the bowl, the peak should hold its shape without drooping; if the cream looks grainy, you’ve gone too far and should start over). Be sure the lemon mixture is completely cool; then, using a rubber spatula, gently fold it into the whipped cream.
- Place a large spoonful of berries into each glass (leave room for 2 layers of berries and 2 layers of cream) and top with a generous dollop of lemon cream. Top with another layer of berries and lemon cream. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until ready to serve. (Parfaits can be assembled up to this point several hours ahead of time.) Right before serving, top each parfait with a shortbread cookie and sprig of fresh mint.
Notes
- Be sure to zest the lemons before juicing them.
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.