You love your mama, don’t you? Well… This Mother’s Day, host a brunch and serve these fruity Berry Lemonade Parfaits! It’s the least you can do…
You love your mama, right? You should. Chick brought you into this world and if her genetic make-up isn’t like Angelina Jolie’s, she ruined her body doing so. You need to thank her for that. And more.
Thank her for the sleepless nights; the ones when you were a helpless baby crying for food, a diaper change, or just plain old – “I WANNA BE HELD!” For the times she rocked you to sleep with a glassy, slightly mad, yet googly look in her eyes which was both – A combination of sleep deprivation and unconditional love.
Thank her for not shoving you in a drawer during those terrible twos. She gets it – You were frustrated. You were unable to properly articulate thoughts and had NO idea mommy wasn’t a mind reader.
Thank her infinite patience during the potty training phase. For cleaning up after your “accidents”. You remember: That time you woke up before everyone else and tried to keep yourself busy? To this day she is unable to look at her walls without wanting to spray them with Tylex. Or wanting to spray you with Tylex.
Thank her for her care. For the times when she held you as your temperature spiked to 104 degrees. Thank her for cleaning your boogies and for never flinching when doused in projectile vomit.
Thank her for putting on a brave face when dropping you off on the first day of school. She was doing it for you. Inside she was a hot mess.
Thank her for the endless help with homework; for secretly googling problems so she could confidently provide you with help. Thank her for the time she spent helping on projects. To this day her glue stick ninja skills remain intact.
Thank her for maintaining her sense of humor and her composure – As you grew and changed and changed and changed again.
Thank her for putting up with your teenage angst and not shoving you in a drawer when you gave her attitude because you’d rather play video games than take out the garbage.
Thank her for being your rock
- Your friend
- Your sounding board
- For being hard on you when she felt you slipping
- For loving you harder than she can articulate
- For being a constant in every stage of your development
Thank her with a berry lemonade parfait. This berry lemonade parfait situation is so simple – A toddler can manage it. It’s really just macerated berries and lemon whipped cream, yet layered looks phenomenal. It’s light and tasty. It’s perfect and comes together in minutes once the berries are properly macerated.
I made them mini in case you plan to celebrate every mom in your life – ‘Cause this whole child raising thing – It takes a village. And you know this.
Now go layer this jammy and celebrate your mama.
[purerecipe]
Ingredients
For the macerated berries
- 4 heaping cups Assorted berries I used sliced strawberries, whole blueberries, and raspberries
- 3-4 tablespoons Granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla bean paste
For the lemon whipped cream
- 2 cups Heavy cream
- 1 ½ cups Confectioners’ sugar
- Zest of 2 lemons
- Juice of 1 lemon*
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- macerated berries for garnish
Instructions
Macerate the strawberries:
- To a medium bowl, add the assorted berries, sugar, and vanilla bean paste. Mix until the mixture is mostly combined. Set aside, covered in room temperature for at least 45 minutes.
Make the lemon whipped cream:
- To a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (hand mixer works well too), over medium/high speed, whip the heavy cream until slightly thickened. *I like to whip it in several parts. When the heavy cream begins thicken slightly I add more heavy cream. This prevents you from over whipping. Increase the speed to high and whip until thickened and medium peaks form.
- Turn off the mixer and add the confectioners’ sugar, lemon zest and juice, and finally the vanilla extract. Turn the mixer back on to low speed and whip until the confectioners’ sugar is mostly combined. Increase the speed to high and whip until completely thickened and the mixture forms stiff peaks. Spoon into a large piping bag fitted with a large star or round tip and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
To assemble:
- Prepare mini dessert glasses or mini dessert bowls. To mini dessert bowls (or glasses) pipe in lemon whipped cream. Make it look nice; it's for your mama!
- Add couple of spoonfuls of macerated berries and syrup. Pipe lemon whipped cream on top. Garnish with leftover macerated berries.
- Easily makes fifteen 2 ounce mini desserts or six 5 ounce mini dessert bowls.
- *If your mama really loves lemon flavor you can juice 2 lemons. It's about her, not you.
