Individual Lemon Berry Parfaits
(Serves four)
- Four Wine or Martini Glasses
- 12 Traditional or Lemon Zest Madeleines
- 1 pints fresh strawberries, sliced (reserve four tablespoons)
- 1/3 cup Lemon Curd
- Orange juice
- Whipping cream
- Sugar
Up to three hours before serving:
In a large bowl, blend 1/3 cup lemon curd with 2 to 3 tablespoons orange juice. Reserve 2 teaspoons lemon curd mixture for later. Mix in fresh berries (except for reserved berries). Set aside.
In a clean mixing bowl, whip cream until soft peaks form, mix in sugar to taste, beat to desired consistency.
In each wine glass, layer whipped cream, stand three Traditional or Lemon Zest madeleines on end, spoon in berry mixture, layer with whipped cream, repeat with berries, top with
whipped cream.
Dollop 1/2 teaspoon of lemon curd mixture on top of whipped cream per parfait; decorate each parfait with reserved berries.
Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.
Individual Black Forest Parfaits
(Serves four)
- Four Martini or Wine Glasses
- 12 Chocolate Madeleines
- 1 Jar Morello Cherries
- 8 ounces Mascarpone
- Whipping Cream
- Sugar
- Almond extract
- Semisweet chocolate (bar form)
Up to three hours before serving:
In a large bowl, mash 1 cup of the cherries with a fork until no whole ones remain, mix In sugar to taste. Set aside.
In a clean mixing bowl, whip (3/4 cup) cream until almost stiff peaks form, beat in sugar and ¼-½ teaspoon almond extract, or to taste. Fold Mascarpone with 1 cup of whipped cream to lighten.
In each glass, layer Mascarpone mixture, 3 Chocolate madeleines standing on end, spoon in cherry mixture, layer with mascarpone cream, cherries, and remaining cream.
Grate semisweet chocolate over cream.
For more information, visit www.donsuemor.com.
About Atsuko Watanabe, Director of Marketing, Donsuemor, Inc.
Atsuko Watanabe is Director of Marketing of Donsuemor, Inc., the premier provider and market leader of traditional French madeleines in North America. She leads all marketing, product development and strategy for the organization.
With 19 years of experience, Atsuko has held several marketing and management positions in both start-up firms and large corporations from which she gained an impressive reputation as a creative and results-oriented executive.
Atsuko came to the San Francisco Bay area to combine her extensive business background with her culinary education and training, and in 2007 joined Donsuemor, where she energetically utilizes both disciplines. Atsuko lived in France for four years to pursue her life passion for cuisine and pastry. She completed the cuisine program at Le Cordon Bleu and subsequently became a pastry chef in Paris.
Prior to France, Atsuko was the Chief Operating Officer of New-A, Inc., an entrepreneurial group of advertising agencies and marketing services firms in New York and Los Angeles. She directed the group's operations, strategic planning, and business development for blue chip clients such as Hennessy, MCI, Ajinomoto Foods, and Citibank, which lead them to be recognized as one of the premier multicultural services group in North America.
Atsuko was at Verizon Corp. between 1991 and 1995, where she worked in several departments, Finance, Engineering and Marketing, in a selective training program designed to nurture managers to leadership. She began her career as an account manager for Levine, Huntley, Schmidt and Beaver Advertising. Atsuko has a B.S. degree in Marketing and Management from New York University.
