Black Forest Sparkle

Hey! Today my post is a little more exciting, as I have been working on my Sweetly Raw Summer Parfait. Heathy's latest challenge is nothing less than perfect in these warm summer months.

The inspiration for my parfait, that I have named, "Black Forest Sparkle" was drawn from some of my happiest childhood memories. My birthday falls on New Years Eve and each year my mum would have guests over to bring in the New Year, complete with a party buffet for all to enjoy. Knowing that Black Forest Gateaux was my ultimate favourite, mum would always decorate one with pink candles and get me to make my birthday wish before the clock struck midnight. This cake is associated with family, friends, good times, birthday surprises and, of course, that little bit of wishful sparkle :-)As well as the raw honey and morello cherries that I added to Heathy's original parfait recipes, I added a bit of sparkle of my own by decorating the "cherries on the top" with some glitter - the raw honey came in useful as a glue, as well as an addition to my white chocolate vanilla mousse"cream" layer.

One of the things I've always loved about a raw/vegan diet is that it allows you to be creative with the most random of ingredients! I mean...who thought of using seaweed as a thickening agent for desserts?!

One of the things I've been most curious about during my reading, is Irish Moss so I ordered some online, in preparation for my "cream" layer.

After soaking, the moss was weighed..............and blended......

Can you imagine drinking this blend of Irish Moss and spring water? Moss smoothie! Hmmmm..... not as tastie as their fruity counterparts I think!

I dug out the frozen morello cherries that I've been saving for something special and created my first layer by spooning some into two different shaped glasses - I wanted to try both :-) These were left to thaw out and soften into squidgey delightfulness as I whizzed around making the rest of my "gateaux".

I had fun breaking into my 2 coconuts! I'll let you in to a shocking secret....I've never opened and eaten fresh coconut before! I know - shoot me right?! The only thing missing was the tropical island backdrop.....aaahhh....one can dream :-)

Hammer at the ready!

As many of you know, Heather Pace is an amaaaaazing raw food chef. Check out her blog on http://www.sweetlyraw.com/ if you haven't already. Here's my blender in full swing, blending my milk chocolate parfait layer - the full recipe can be found in Heathy's fab Summer Parfait ebook :-)

I'll tell you something - this tasted scrummy! Here's the pre-blended mixture.

Making Heathy's simple chocolate sauce. I added a drizzle of this between each of my parfait layers - to keep the surprises coming as you work your way through :-)

Heathy's cookie crumbs - these were used to add a bit of texture and to separate some of the layers. Great if you want to stop different coloured layers from mixing with one another.

I love getting my hands in there!

Chocolate sauce, fresh cherries and cookie crumbs

My chocolate and cream layers chilled and fresh from the fridge.....good to go!

The "cream" layer was made using Heathy's white chocolate mousse recipe and the "cake" layer, from the milk choc mousse one. I added a dab a raw honey to the cream recipe :-)
Now came the fun bit.....layering up!

Cherries, cream layer, cookie crumbs..............chocolate sauce, milk chocolate layer, cookie crumbs......

........cream, cherries, choc sauce, milk choc layer......

And a cherry on the top!! :-)

After my first attempt at layering.....I decided to add some cherry sparkle by dipping my cherry stems into raw honey, followed by a tub of fairy glitter!

A bit of sparkle! :-)

I had a go at creating my parfait in a wine glass too......I liked the final look of this one more because I put waaaay more cherries in :-)

I originally wanted to go to the beach to photograph my parfait but I settled for the communal garden outside the back of my flat. I think a wooded/garden area is much more fitting for my Black Forest Sparkle.....I may make a beachy parfait at some point tho :-) The garden is a great place to sit and read when the weather is nice....plus we have some pretty flowers at the moment.

3 Little maids :-)
Life is like a bowl of cherries :-)
I had so much fun with this parfait challenge. I got to play with Irish moss and glitter all in one go! Thankyou Heathy for setting this inventive challenge!

xoxo :-)