Espresso Parfait with Cranberry Sauce

Today I am introducing a fast espresso parfait, which is served with cranberry sauce. In case you are looking for a festive dessert you can prepare in advance for Christmas, this may be for you. Since it is frozen, it is up to you to decide when to make it. Also, you can make the cranberry sauce up to two days in advance. I think it is perfect for Christmas as you will have one less thing to worry about. The creamy espresso parfait is delicious on its own, however, if topped of with the tangy cranberry sauce, you have a winning team. Let’s get started!

The good thing about parfait is that you don’t need an ice-cream machine if you wish to make it. It is similar to ice cream, but it melts slower than it and usually only consists of egg yolks and beaten heavy cream. Sometimes beaten egg whites are also included. As is the case with frozen desserts, you can of course enjoy it on a hot summer day as well. However, I really like to idea of serving something cold for Christmas. Somwhow when you have snow outside and it is freezing, why not go with this delicious dessert?

So let’s get started, the parfait comes together in about 10-15 minutes and the sauce needs to simmer for 10 minutes, but in total this is really easy compared to a complicated Christmas cake, so have fun!

Credit: Barbaras Spielwiese (in German)

Print Recipe

Espresso Parfait with Cranberry Sauce

Serves: 4 of 200 mililiters

Prep Time: 25min – Cooking Time: 10min + 4 hours of chilling

This delicious espresso parfait is a mix of frozen eggs with heavy cream and combines nicely with the cranberry sauce.

Ingredients

• Espresso-Parfait
• 1 egg
• 2 egg yolks
• 60 grams of regular sugar
• 1 teaspoon of instant espresso powder (can be omitted)
• 200 grams of heavy cream
• 
  
• Cranberry Sauce
• 200 grams of fresh cranberries
• 70 grams of water
• 60 grams of brown sugar
• Zest and jucie of one orange
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, see here how to make your own

Instructions

1

For the parfait place the egg, egg yolks, and sugar in a waterbath and beat with a mixer for a few minutes until very thick and creamy. Then take out and beat until cold or place again a waterbath with very cold water. Add the instant espresso powder towards the end, you will notice that it will help stabilize the egg mixture even more. You can omit the whole waterbath idea, however, if you do, be sure that your eggs are very fresh as only the warm watherbath pasteurizes the eggs and otherwise you will eat raw eggs.

2

Beat heavy cream until soft peaks form and fold into egg mixture.

3

Fill into ramekins with about 200 milimeters volume and let freeze for a few hours or overnight.

4

For the cranberry sauce wash the cranberries, place inside a pot together with the water and sugar. Zest the orange and then juice it and also add to the mix. Bring to a soft boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Take off heat and stir in vanilla extract. The sauce will thicken even more while cooling off.

5

Take out the ramekins and place for a few minutes into warm water, then run a knife around the edges, cover with an inverted plate and turn over. Enjoy with either warm or cold cranberry sauce immediately.

Notes

No idea what to do with the leftover egg whites? Check out see this blog post including how to freeze them properly.