If you follow me on Instagram, you may have noticed I’ve been on a tart cherry kick. I’ve been buying them frozen, and I just can’t get enough. Today’s dessert is something I dreamed up one night when I was in the thick of my tart cherry infatuation. This is the perfect dreamy dessert to make for your sweetheart. It’s sweet, but not too sweet, in fact it can be made without any added sugar or sweeteners at all. It’s also raw, vegan, and gluten free. And it tastes like a dream.

I had such a difficult time pinning down a name for this dessert. It’s kind of like if Cherry Fool and Cherry Pie fell in love and had children, this would be them. It’s like a Fool Pie Parfait. It’s like cherry pie with layers of fluffy cream. It’s like cherries dancing on a cloud being serenaded by buttery shortbread cookies on Valentine’s day. It’s like…

You get the picture. It’s just darn delicious.

It’s also a cinch to make. It’s several lovely layers of fluffy fresh coconut cream and thawed frozen juicy tart cherries, topped with buttery heart shaped raw cookies. This one feels special, guys. Yet it’s so simple! I made my coconut cream from young coconuts, but you can make something equally as delicious using either canned coconut milk or coconut yogurt (which would make a perfect Valentine’s breakfast option).

Show your honey or kiddos or yourself just how special they are and whip them up this dreamy dessert parfait!

Cherry Cloud Parfait – raw, vegan, dairy free, gluten free, sugar free, soy free

Cherry layer:

• 2 cups of frozen cherries

Creamy cloud layer

• 2 young coconuts (see notes for variations)
• 1/2 cup coconut water from one of the coconuts

Raw Shortbread cookies

• 3/4 cup raw almonds, ground into flour
• 1/3 cup coconut shreds, ground
• 1/3 cup raw cashews, ground
• 1/3 cup buckwheat groats, ground
• 1/4 cup raw pecans, ground
• 6 large medjool dates
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• optional dash of cinnamon, pinch of lemon or orange zest

 

Instructions:

1. Transfer frozen cherries to a container and allow to thaw in the refrigerator.
2. Carefully open the coconuts (see this post for more info) and pour out the coconut water. Scrape out the coconut meat, peeling off any of the brown husk. Add it to a blender as well as about 1/2 cup coconut water and blend from low to high until completely smooth. Scrape into a container and place in the fridge. I like to let it thicken up for a few hours.
3. Make the cookies. Add all the ingredients to a food processor. I like to pre-mill all of the nuts, buckwheat groats, and coconut shreds so the cookies have a smoothie texture. Process until you get a sticky dough. Form dough into a ball and place in the fridge for a half hour. Take out dough ball and roll out to about 1/8 inch thick and use a tiny heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out cookies. You can place these on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and transfer to the freezer to firm up. Or, if you want them to seem more like a real baked cookie, dehydrate them for about 6-8 hours.
4. Assemble the parfaits. Alternate a spoonful of cherries and a spoonful of coconut cream in glasses or parfait dishes. Arrange heart cookies on top.

Variations:

You can use the cream from two cans of coconut milk, instead of fresh coconut meat. Just place the cans in your fridge overnight. Open them, scraping the cream off the top. Use a fork and whip the cream with a little sweetener of choice. This will have a much different taste than the fresh coconut. Fresh coconut is naturally a little sweet so it doesn’t need added sweetener, while canned coconut definitely needs a little something.

I like the coconut cream and cherries without sweetener, but if you would rather them be on the sweeter side, you can add maple syrup to taste. Sometimes I like to add a little squeeze of lemon to the coconut cream too. The same goes for the cookies, they are subtly sweet as is, but if you’d like them sweeter, add some maple syrup, or sprinkle coconut sugar on the tops of them after they’ve been cut out.