Valentine's Day Parfaits

Well, I'm not sure these exactly fit the definition of a parfait, but the name did rhyme off the tongue nicely, and it also happens to be the French word for perfect, which I thought fit nicely. Anyways, I strongly believe there is not better way to celebrate Valentine's Day than with chocolate (and a loved one of course) so I always make Valentine's desserts that are heavy on the chocolate. I created this dessert collection from an idea I saw in several different places - basically a type of chocolate parfait, that contains chocolate as well as other flavors such as fruit, nuts, coffee, vanilla, and more in an edible dish that is essentially a bowl or cup made out of chocolate. Each parfait has a unique, special title or flavor profile, and the general structure of the parfait consists of a base ingredients, add-ons, a filling of some sort, and garnish. The base ingredients could include pieces of cake, cookie, or nuts; the add-ons could be fruit, nuts, or chocolate pieces; the filling could be a mousse, yogurt, ganache, or whipped cream; garnishes could be chocolate shapes, caramel shapes, mint leaves, or more; and flavor options include vanilla, mocha, fruit, and chocolate. Here are the creations I came up with:

Chocolate Champion: chocolate brownie pieces, chocolate ganache, chocolate flakes, chocolate filigree.




Fruit Fiesta: oranges, strawberries, blueberries, cherries yogurt, honey. 

Nice 'n Nutty: whole almonds, ground walnuts, pecan pieces, shredded coconut, peanut butter chocolate ganache, hazelnuts.

Strawberry Shortcake: shortbread cookie pieces, strawberries, yogurt, cinnamon, honey.

These are all served in edible white and dark chocolate lace cups, which I featured yesterday! Happy Valentine's Day everyone, and enjoy some chocolate! < 3