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Mint-Chocolate Fudge Parfait

Top o’ the morning to ya!

Were you mint-ed out with all the St. Patrick’s Day Recipes?

Hope not, because I have one more to share!

Yesterday’s special dessert: a fudge-mint parfait. (Yes, today is St. Patrick’s Day, but I had to make it early so I could blog about it before St. Paddy’s Day is over!)

greenp3

Vegan cream, spelt flakes, and Chocolate-Fudge Frosting.

Like St. Patrick’s Day in a parfait glass.

(St. Patrick’s Day goes French??)

green parfait 2

 

Soy-Free Peppermint Cream

(Makes 1 1/2 cups: one Katie-sized serving!)

  • 5 tiny drops pure peppermint extract
  • sweetener of choice
  • 1/16th tsp salt
  • scant 2 1/2 T water (20g)
  • 1/2 serving agar base (recipe linked below)
  • 3 drops coconut extract (Optional, but highly recommended)
  • Optional (for green hue) handful spinach (I used frozen) (You could use green food coloring. Or opt to keep the cream white, like candy-cane cream!)

Instructions: First, make up the agar base. When the base is cooled, put half of it in a blender (or Magic Bullet) with all the other ingredients and blend away.  Whip very well. I like to put it in the freezer for a few minutes prior to eating, so it’s super-cold.

green parfait

See original whipped-cream post for Nutrition Facts.

I’m really lovin’ this holiday-parfait thing. Other holiday parfaits so far:

vegan love parfait

Love Potion Parfait

ppafait

Pumpkin Pie Parfait

I’m thinking, for Easter, a carrot-cake parfait is a must. Carrots, raisins, walnuts… delicious ideas are already spinning. (Oh, and in case you were wondering, I totally upped the saturation of that green cream. It did not look as pretty when I ate it!)

When you eat:
What’s most important: looks or taste?

Do you like to make your meals look pretty, using fancy plates and garnishes? Or do you just throw things together and not care about the appearance, as long as it tastes yummy? I do a little of both. Sometimes, I’m in the mood to be fancy-schmancy. But at other times–especially when I’m in a rush–prettiness just goes out the window.

Same if I’m eating a food that can’t look pretty, like my No-Cream Cream of Broccoli Soup.

Published on March 17, 2011

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58 Comments

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  1. Hela says

    Happy Paddy´s day!!!
    oh yum, yum, yum, those parfaits looks delicious! You would never guess the peppermint one does NOT contain any artificial colours… 😉 Must make that asap!! I am going to have a salad today, mostly with greens 🙂
    I do care more about the taste, than the look of my food. But somehow it always looks nice on my plate 😉 There are times, when I do care a lot about the appearance, though, like when I give dinner parties.

  2. Carrie (Moves 'N Munchies) says

    dang- do you just come up with recipes like in your dreams magically??? thats DANG COOL! you always have something fantastic to show us!!! oh for me.. taste over appearance.. umm my food is ALWAYS UGGGGI!
    but tastes oh so good !

  3. Ari@ThE DiVa DiSh says

    You are the parfait queen! That looks so yummy! My meals almost always never look pretty 🙂 haha UNLESS I am photographing them! Such a blogger thing right? Your food LOOKS and TASTE delicious!

  4. Alex@Spoonful of Sugar Free says

    Well……taste of course is the most important because it can look pretty, but it can taste so horrible that you can’t even choke it down……but…….I like to make all my foods look pretty! Makes it exciting!

    Happy St. Patty’s Day!

  5. Alyson says

    I haven’t treated myself to a parfait in quite sometime! 🙂 I think it might be time! 😉
    Yum!
    Happy St. Patty’s Day!!!

    😀
    Aly

  6. Catherine @ Running Beginners says

    Taste for sure. Obviously I am more inclined to want to eat something that looks good to but so long as it tastes good it could look shocking and I’d till eat it 🙂

    Especially good since I’m not fab on presentation. I can cook well – it just never seems to turn out looking as pretty as it should. I’m attempting your cookie dough baked oatmeal on Saturday morning (my eldest sons birthday breakfast 🙂 ) so I’m interested to see how much worse looking than yours they turn out hehe

  7. Gen says

    I think that a food’s taste is more important!
    As my grandfather used to say:
    “It doesn’t matter what it tastes like, as long as its sweet!!” 😀

  8. Corey @ the runner's cookie says

    Your green parfait looks delicious!! I am way more concerned with how my food tastes, and I could pretty much care less how it looks. Some of my dinners look like (and ARE) thrown together messes, but if they taste good I’m happy 🙂

  9. Kelsey @ Unmitigated Grub says

    I vote taste. BUT, as a relatively new blogger, I am discovering the importance of making something look pretty. And it is kinda fun and fancy to garnish food just for the pretty factor. 🙂

    You went all out this St. Paddy’s Day! Very impressive dessert.

  10. Jess says

    taste, without a doubt; i love food, i’m not sure what it’s called when one love it as much as i do, but i love eating even more, especially food i like. it’s what i have to look forward to each day.

  11. Averie (LoveVeggiesAndYoga) says

    looks are important (especially for blogging purposes)…no one wants to look at messy, runny, gloppy, “gross” looking food…

    But sometimes that’s the kind of food that tastes the best 🙂 It may not photograph well, but it sure tastes well.

    Taste trumps looks b/c if it tastes bad, I am NOT eating more than 1 bite, no matter how pretty it is 🙂

  12. Stacey (The Home-Cooked Vegan) says

    Yes, I think a carrot cake parfait sounds just amaaazzzinnnggg. Please do one! Pleaasseeeee 😀 I usually make a meal just the way a recipe says, but if it’s a special occasion, or if I’m feeling fancy, I may sprinkle on some parsley, or coconut..or what have you 😉 So long as my food tastes yummy then I could give a rats butt how it looks!

  13. Mary @ Bites and Bliss says

    Taste is definitely the most important. Sometimes the ugliest things taste the best! It’s our taste buds, not our eyes that will be ulitimately be experiencing the food anyway.

  14. Emma (Sweet Tooth Runner) says

    HAPPY ST PATRICK’S DAY my lovely Irish friend!! You are a genius and that parfait looks to DIE for!! My food is ugly most of the time, but adding chocolate chips beautifies anything in my opinion!! 😛

    And although I haven’t had time to make anything green, I am celebrating still!! I’m eating broccoli right now and am having your naughty girl fudge for dessert!! That fits cos YOU are Irish so it counts, right? 😉

  15. Jen says

    Taste is definitely more important, but I still like my meals to look somewhat presentable! If they don’t, they tend to look unappetizing to me. And If I’m serving others, I definitely like my food to look pretty!

  16. Faith @ lovelyascharged says

    I always prefer my food to be appealing to the eye, but lets face it…some things just look nasty! I.e. Indian curry…you get the idea. I’m actually writing for work an article on how chemo patients can increase their intake when food has lost its appeal, and one of the suggestions is to go for visually appealing food. It really is amazing what a difference yummy *looks* matter to appetite!

  17. BroccoliHut says

    I think I put equal emphasis on looks and taste–as a foodie, I obviously want it to taste heavenly, but the artistic side of me also likes to make it pretty:)

  18. Tara says

    I used to make the agar base all the time just to have on hand, but it’s been forever! I love it mixed with rice and cinnamon for rice pudding!
    I am so taste over looks. Like, the best cupcakes are always the simple, homemade ones. The over the top extravagant ones from the stores never taste as good!

  19. Albizia says

    For me taste is more important than looks. Or it’s just an excuse to make incredibly ugly meals and eat them on my own because no one else dares try them 😀 . So when I cook for others I put some thought in the presentation, but if it’s for me I don’t care about the looks at all if it tastes good.

  20. Lyza says

    Aw, these all look beautiful and scrumptious 🙂

    I love eating desserts that look like Marie Antoinette’s confections, but in terms of cooking, I’d have to say I am definitely on the taste wing of the spectrum 🙂 A lot of the food I make for myself doesn’t turn out looking very good, but I like it so that’s all that matters 🙂 Also, most of the time I really don’t feel like spending a lot of time in the kitchen to make a food a little less nutritious than it already is naturally, so I tend to eat really bland foods, lots of raw foods…I enjoy them a lot. Really I can’t tell the difference anymore, it’s like one food is always another experience from the other…I guess in terms of that I choose health above everything else! But sometimes, if I’m going to have a treat, I’m going to make sure it feels like a real indulgence, and is gorgeous and heavenly. Usually though, since I’m not much of a sugar fiend, that’s like a jar of almond butter for me or something…I would enjoy that more than a sweet treat. I’m so odd!!

        • Lyza says

          Oh, thankyou for telling me!! I did not get it, I was just waiting 🙂 I looked around (haha, searched for the word “chocolate,” in my gmail search bar) and now I see that somehow it got in my spam filter!! >.<

          I'm emailing you the information back now! 🙂

  21. Katherine: Unemployed says

    I’m going to answer your question with a question: what’s more important- health or beauty? okay so maybe not on that scale but I’d rather the goodness come from within

  22. chelsey @ clean eating chelsey says

    Taste is much more important than looks. If looks counted, I wouldn’t eat half the things I do!!

  23. Laura says

    I love, love, LOVE parfaits! As obsessed as you are with chocolate, that’s me with yogurt! I eat it at almost every meal!
    I really wanted to try your soy free vegan cream, so I ran out to my closest special/ organic/ vegan food store to buy agar flakes. $15 for a tiny envelope!?! I couldn’t bring myself to do it. 🙁 But your flavor combinations still sound really good! I’ll try them out with ingredients that are a little less pricey! 😉

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