How to Make a Strawberry Parfait with Mascarpone

This easy Strawberry Parfait recipe features layers of chopped ripe strawberries, lightly sweetened mascarpone cream, and gingery biscoff cookies.

Even a pastry chef like me needs a quick, back-pocket recipe for when you want a delicious dessert and you want it fast. This is it for me. It shows off perfectly ripe strawberries, while adding the creaminess and crunch of the most perfect desserts.

I’ve served this in plastic bowls for my kids, with the last of a quart of strawberries that are about to become a little too ripe. And I’ve served this to my personal chef clients in fancy parfait glasses at formal dinner parties. I’m not sure which audience loved this more!

Why Make This Strawberry Parfait Recipe

• So Easy: Just prep a few ingredients and then layer them in whatever pretty clear glasses or mason jars you have lying around—the perfect little sweet treat.
• Highlights Fresh Strawberries: With only 3 ingredients, perfectly ripe strawberries really shine!
• Versatile: Once you have the technique down, you can make ingredient substitutions depending on what’s in season or what you have on-hand. Read on for more. 

Strawberry Mascarpone Parfait Ingredients

• Strawberries: Feel free to replace strawberries with whatever fruit or fresh berries that are in season. Make Blueberry Parfaits or Blackberry Parfaits or even Peach or Apricot Parfaits. For another take on the parfait idea using mangoes, check out my Mango Coconut Yogurt Parfait recipe. 
• Biscoff cookies: Find these in the cookie or graham cracker section of your grocery store. If you love these as much as we do, make sure to check out our Biscoff Truffles, Biscoff Brownies, and Biscoff Cheesecake recipes as well. And see the Expert Tips section for substitution ideas.
• Mascarpone Cheese: You can substitute cream cheese for the mascarpone, but you may need to add a bit more heavy cream to the mixture and another tablespoon of sugar as well to match the flavor and texture of mascarpone.
• Heavy cream: Really the best for this recipe as ½ and ½ and milk do not whip the same way.
• Granulated Sugar: Feel free to substitute another kind of sugar if you’d like. Powdered sugar would work very well. Light brown sugar would also be ok, though it might turn your mascarpone cream a little bit off-white. You could also try sugar substitutes like agave syrup or coconut sugar. Or use a touch of honey instead. 

How to make Parfaits with Mascarpone and Strawberries

First, rinse, trim, and finely chop 8 ounces of fresh strawberries.

Put 5 ounces of biscoff cookies into a heavy-duty plastic bag, then crush with the back of a measuring cup or a wooden spoon or meat mallet, until you have small chunks and crumbs. (Up to you how fine you want the crumbs to be.)

You can do this in a food processor if you prefer.

Put ½ cup heavy cream into a medium bowl, and use a hand mixer to whip for 20 seconds or so, until it starts to thicken. Then, continue to whip as you slowly pour in 3 tablespoons sugar. Whip cream until soft peaks form.

Use a sturdy spatula to loosen up the cold mascarpone cheese, then add it bit by bit to the mixing bowl with the mixer on medium-low speed. Whip just until mascarpone is fully combined. Mixture should be thick and creamy.

Assemble strawberry mascarpone parfaits by layering first a couple of spoonfuls of biscoff crumbs, followed by a couple of spoonfuls of the mascarpone mixture, followed by a sprinkling of strawberry pieces.

You really don’t need to measure out exactly, just roughly eyeball the amount of the ingredients you have and make sure you have enough for 2 layers in each serving dish or glass. Repeat with the second layer, ending with strawberries. Serve these delicious strawberry parfaits as soon as possible!

Variations on Strawberry Parfaits

This strawberry parfait recipe is super versatile and lends itself to lots of substitution. Use any of the following to break up your parfait layers with cookie crumbles: graham crackers, pound cake or angel food cake, biscotti, vanilla wafers, Oreos, chopped brownie bites, or even chopped oatmeal or chocolate chip cookies.

Try vanilla ice cream, Coconut Ice Cream, or vanilla pudding rather than the mascarpone cream. Or use Vanilla Pastry Cream, lightened with a little whipped cream if you prefer. And of course, replace strawberries with another in-season fruit like blueberries or chopped peaches.

Strawberry Parfait Storage Tips

Refrigerate any leftover strawberries and mascarpone cream separately if possible. The strawberries will begin to break down and become a little soupier as time goes by. The mascarpone cream will last for up to 3 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container. If you have preassembled parfaits that need to be stored, put into the refrigerator and cover with plastic wrap. The biscoff crumbs and strawberries will become softer the longer they sit in the refrigerator.

🧐 Recipe FAQs for Strawberry Parfaits

Expert Tips for making Strawberry Mascarpone Parfaits

Don't over whip the heavy cream or the mascarpone. If you whip it for too long, you'll get a heavier consistency almost like whipped butter. It will still taste good but it won't  be as light and fluffy to eat!

It may seem like a good idea to soften the mascarpone before using by leaving it out at room temperature. Don't do this—mascarpone splits very easily when it warms up a little. Just use a sturdy spatula to loosen it a bit before adding to the bowl with the whipped cream. 

Want to make a healthier version? Try replacing the mascarpone cream with plain yogurt, vanilla yogurt, or Greek yogurt to make a strawberry yogurt parfait. Replace the biscoff cookies with crunchy granola to make an excellent healthy breakfast parfait. 

Got extra mascarpone cream? It's great in cake fillings or frostings. You can also use it as a filling for a fresh fruit tart (for something super easy, use a prebaked tart shell, cover with mascarpone cream, then top with fresh fruit). I think my favorite use is for the classic Italian dessert Tiramisu. Finally, you can fill sweet crepes with mascarpone cream—spread on one side of a crepe, add fresh fruit, and fold over. Top with another sprinkling of fresh fruit and serve! This Mango Crêpes recipe will show you how to make sweet crêpes.

If you love an easy parfait, check out this festive Jello Parfait next. So pretty, and can be made with whatever flavors you like. Or celebrate fall with these festive Pumpkin Parfaits.

Other Delicious Strawberry Desserts

Fresh strawberries make the best desserts, from strawberry shortcake to strawberry cobbler to Strawberry Pound Cake and Strawberry Coulis. Here are some of my favorites:

Need any more dessert inspiration? We've got a whole Dessert archive for you.

Of course strawberries are also fantastic in drink recipes too, like White Wine Sangria with Strawberries, Strawberry Simple Syrup, or this Strawberry Mimosa. These easy Strawberry Lemonade Frozen Pops are perfect for summer too!

If you try this Strawberry Parfait recipe, we would love to hear from you! Please rate this recipe and leave a comment below—your feedback is invaluable to us.

And please follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or subscribe to our newsletter. We’d love to inspire you with more delicious, healthy, and seasonal recipes!

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Strawberry Mascarpone Parfait

Chef Molly

Strawberry Parfaits with Mascarpone Cream feature layers of chopped ripe strawberries, lightly sweetened mascarpone cream, and gingery biscoff cookies.

4.98 from 48 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 15 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian

Servings 4

Calories 557 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 8 ounces fresh strawberries
• 5 ounces biscoff cookies (about 20 cookies)
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 8 ounces mascarpone cheese

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Instructions

 

• Rinse, trim, and finely chop strawberries.
• Put biscoff cookies into a ziplock bag, then crush with the back of a measuring cup or a wooden spoon or meat mallet, until you have small chunks and crumbs. (Up to you how fine you want the crumbs to be.)
• Put heavy cream into a mixing bowl, and use a hand mixer to whip for 20 seconds or so, until it starts to thicken. Then, continue to whip as you slowly pour in the sugar. Whip cream until soft peaks form.
• Use a spatula to loosen up the cold mascarpone cheese, then add it bit by bit to the mixing bowl with the mixer on medium-low speed. Whip just until mascarpone is fully combined. Mixture should be thick and creamy.
• Assemble parfaits by layering first a couple of spoonfuls of biscoff crumbs, followed by a couple of spoonfuls of the mascarpone mixture, followed by a sprinkling of strawberry pieces. You really don’t need to measure out exactly, just roughly eyeball the amount of the ingredients you have and make sure you have enough for 2 layers in each serving dish or glass.
• Repeat with the second layer, ending with strawberries.
• Serve immediately.

Notes

Don't over whip the heavy cream or the mascarpone. If you whip it for too long, you'll get a heavier consistency almost like whipped butter. It will still taste good but it won't  be as light and fluffy to eat!

It may seem like a good idea to soften the mascarpone before using by leaving it out at room temperature. Don't do this—mascarpone splits very easily when it warms up a little. Just use a sturdy spatula to loosen it a bit before adding to the bowl with the whipped cream. 

If your strawberries are super sweet, you can reduce the sugar a bit in the mascarpone layer. 

Use a clear glass or clear plastic dish to serve so that you can see all the layers. Smaller glasses are better than bigger since the mascarpone cream is quite rich, and a more narrow glass will make it easier to see the beautiful layers.

Nutrition

Calories: 557kcalCarbohydrates: 43gProtein: 7gFat: 40gSaturated Fat: 24gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 90mgSodium: 237mgPotassium: 238mgFiber: 2gSugar: 20gVitamin A: 1239IUVitamin C: 34mgCalcium: 135mgIron: 3mg

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More About Molly

Cooking healthy(ish) meals with seasonal ingredients is my passion. Trained as a French pastry chef, I spent over 10 years as a personal chef. Here you'll find well-tested recipes that you and your family will love!

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