Are you still looking for the perfect dessert to serve this holiday season? This dessert contains all the three elements I would usually enjoy as a child during the Christmas season in France: citrus, coconut and chocolate. And how did I accomplish such a feat? By creating a kumquat macaroon parfait, of course!
To make the dessert Christmas-themed, I made two colored chocolate puddings. One was prepared with white chocolate powder and green-colored chocolate chips and the other with strawberry powdered drink mix and red chocolate chips. The base and top of the dessert were made with macaroons.
1. Info for Christmas Dessert: Macaroon Parfait Recipe
- Cook Time: 50 min
- Total Time: 1 hr 20 min
- Servings: 8
- Calories: 320 kcal
2. Ingredients for Christmas Dessert: Macaroon Parfait Recipe
- coconut macaroon batter
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon white chocolate powder (see tips)
- 1 tablespoon strawberry powdered drink mix (see tips)
- 2 tablespoons tapioca starch
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2½ tablespoons superfine sugar (or granulated sugar)
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
3. Directions:
3.1 Making the coconut and kumquat base and topping
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Line a (6-½” x 8-½”) non-stick rectangular mold with parchment paper.
Place the marmalade in a strainer, then rinse with hot water. Gather the kumquat pulp and mix with the coconut macaroon batter.
Spoon and spread the macaroon batter into the mold. Gently lift the mold and drop it several times to create an even layer. Bake for 5 minutes at 375°F; lower the temperature to 350°F and bake for another 20 minutes. The texture of the cake should be very soft and moist.
Remove from the oven. Let the cake cool completely. With one of the verrine glasses to be used for the final presentation, create 16 disks. Note: I called the girls to help eat the remaining macaroon scraps.
3.2 For the chocolate pudding filling
In a mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks with the superfine sugar until you get a pale yellow foam; the texture of the egg yolk will be thicker. Add the coconut extract, salt and tapioca starch. Divide into bowls in 2 equal portions. Add the strawberry powder to one bowl and white chocolate powder to the other. Mix well.
Pour the milk into a sauce pan and bring it to a boil. Remove from the heat right away and add the vanilla chips. Keep stirring until they’re completely melted.
Slowly pour ½ cup hot milk into each bowl to prevent the yolks from curdling. Stir well and add the red chocolate chips to the strawberry bowl and green chocolate chips to the white chocolate one. Stir one more time, then transfer to small saucepans. Note: You could get a helper to stir one of the chocolate puddings or prepare them one at a time.
Over low heat, cook for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens. (Whisk constantly to prevent the mixture from sticking to the bottom). Turn off the heat.
Add 1½ teaspoons each of butter and heavy cream to both saucepans. Mix until well incorporated. Allow to cool to room temperature, seal and wrap well, then refrigerate until ready to assemble.
3.3 Assembly
Line up 8 verrine glasses. Place 1 macaroon disk into the bottom of the glass. Pour in a layer of red chocolate pudding, then add the green layer. Seal with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.
When you’re ready to serve, unwrap the glasses and garnish with the remaining macaroon disks.
Bon appétit!
4. Tips and advices:
- I prefer using superfine sugar. It’s fine-grained and dissolves much more quickly than the regular granulated kind.
- I used Ghirardelli sweet ground white chocolate flavor beverage mix and Nesquik strawberry powdered drink mix.
