While we just said that our favorite pie topping is streusel (crumb topping), here’s something special for July 4th.

You can buy or bake an open face pie (no top crust) or a tart, and decorate it as the American Flag.

All you need to decorate are:

 
Older children can do the decorating, and everyone can enjoy a piece of “grand old pie.”

If you’ve purchased the pie, the dessert can be ready in 10 minutes!

For those who don’t know the lyrics/tune to George M. Cohan’s classic, “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” practice on You Tube.

If you use an aerosol whipped cream like Reddi-Wip, the air will deflate much sooner than if you whip your own stabilized whipped cream.

Even if you don’t stabilize the whipped cream, your own beater-whipped cream will stay fluffy longer. You don’t need to create whipped cream stars, which the Reddi-Wip nozzle enables. Instead, just emulate the real white bars of the flag, and use one long line of whipped cream in-between the rows of strawberries.
  

Personally, we’d rather have a cobbler, crisp or grunt (the difference).

If it has to be a conventional pie, give us a crumb topping instead of a top crust. For thus, that means streusel—the same topping that goes on top of crumb cake.

WHAT IS STREUSEL?

Streusel is a crumb topping made from butter, flour and sugar. It can also contain chopped nuts or rolled oats. We think it’s easier than a conventional dough crust.

Pronounced SHTROY-zul, the word derives from the German “streuen,” meaning to sprinkle or scatter.

Streusel is used as a topping for a variety of pies, fruit crisps, cakes and pastries, most notably coffee cakes.

A pie with a streusel topping is sometimes referred to as a “crumble pie.”

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE the flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. With a pastry blender or fork, cut in the butter until fine crumbs form.

2. USE your fingers to squeeze the fine crumbs into large clumps (size as desired—we like large crumbs). Sprinkle over the top of the pie and bake per recipe instructions. That’s it!
  

June 25th is National Strawberry Parfait Day.

We just published a July 4th breakfast parfait recipe, but the original parfait was made from ice cream.

In the U.S., a parfait is a layered sundae. In France, it’s a different type of frozen dessert, as we’ll explain below.

A parfait (American) can be simple, with alternating layers of ice cream and syrup, or a mélange of ingredients.

> A recipe template is below.

> November 25th is National Parfait Day.

> The 50+ ice cream holidays.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE PARFAIT

Parfait is the French word for “perfect.” The word means something different in France: It’s the original French sundae, made with a custard-base ice cream (“French” ice cream, made from a base of sugar syrup, egg, and cream); then flavored with fruit purée and whipped with a lot of air to a delicate texture.

The recipe can be made at home with no special equipment. It contains enough fat, sugar, alcohol, and whipped air to allow it to be made by stirring infrequently, as it freezes (granita is made the same way).

The process interferes with the formation of ice crystals: As in the production of regular ice cream, the mix is agitated constantly as it freezes (or chemically by adding glycerol) [source].

In a French parfait, the ice cream is not scooped but pre-frozen in individual serving containers—typically the long, tapered parfait glasses, narrower versions of sundae dishes.

The frozen dessert dates to 1894. In France, a parfait is a frozen dessert made from a base of sugar syrup, egg, and cream.

In America, a “parfait” became a particular type of sundae, different from the French parfait.

An American parfait layers syrup and other garnishes (originally, bright-colored fruit gelatin was used) between layers of ice cream, in a tall glass.

It is then garnished with whipped cream, fruit, liqueurs, nuts, and these days, sprinkles and gummy bears. instead of adding them all on top like a sundae.

The concept expanded to fruit, yogurt and granola parfaits; pudding parfaits; and even savory parfaits like this Mexican Parfait with tomatoes, beans, jalapeño, plain Greek yogurt and tortilla chips; and this Buffalo Chicken Parfait.

Check out the different types of ice cream preparations in our Ice Cream Glossary, along with the history of the parfait.
 
 
PARFAIT VS. SUNDAE: THE DIFFERENCE

In the U.S., both ice cream desserts are made from the same ingredients. The difference is in how the ingredients are presented.

 
 
RECIPE TEMPLATE: CUSTOMIZE YOUR PARFAIT

In the U.S., different types of parfait bases are used. Choose from this list to build your own, layer by layer:
 
Parfait Base

 
Fruit

 
Cake & Cookies

 
Fillings/Toppings

 
Garnish

 
One great thing about parfaits: You’ll never run out of combinations!
 
 

[8] This is the classic “tulip parfait” glass, not to be confused with the classic “tulip sundae” glass, which is wider—see the next photo (photos #8 and #9 by A.I.).

[9] This is the tulip sundae glass. Both of these specialized ice cream serving vessels were developed during the late 19th and early 20th centuries concurrent with the popularity of ice cream sundaes and parfaits at American soda fountains.

[1] Don’t worry: There’s whipped cream under that garland of strawberries. Here’s the recipe (photo © Japanese Cooking 101).

[2] Serve a parfait in a glass dish to enjoy the aesthetic of the layers. It can be any glass vessel, even a wine glass (photo © Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board).

[3] Everyone has a rocks glass (photo © Elavegan).

[4] Add sponge cake or pound cake for a Strawberry Shortcake Parfait. Here’s the recipe (photo © Recipes Simple).

[5] A fruit and yogurt parfait with granola. Here’s the recipe from Sugar Spice And Family Life.

[6] A French-style parfait: no layers, just frozen creaminess. This walnut parfait is made with walnuts and walnut liqueur. Here’s the recipe from Mondomulia (photo © Mondomulia).

[7] An American-style yogurt parfait with blueberry sauce and lemon custard. Here’s the recipe from Baking A Moment.

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