Wherever I am, I’m always on the hunt for new inspiration. Weather I’m at a restaurant with friends or on a trip. This recipe was inspired by a dessert I sampled at one of the lounges at Alt Summit. Since I’ve been recently experimenting more with Greek Yogurt in Desserts, like this Greek Yogurt Cheesecake, a little sign signaling me towards Chocolate and Yogurt Parfaits easily caught my eye. This light, satisfying dessert, with layers of creamy vanilla and chocolate, was stored in my mind to recreate soon.
Last week I had the pleasure of attending my first conference. Alt Summit hosts creative entreprenuers from around the country (some even from other countries!) all meeting right here in Salt Lake City. What I did expect from the conference was to learn and be challenged creatively but what I didn’t expect was to be inspired and encouraged not just by the speakers but the attendees as well.
I met a variety of bloggers, some amazing food bloggers, as well as travel bloggers, diy bloggers, and lifestyle bloggers. I also ran into app developers, event coordinators, photographers, and interior designers. The Grand America was busting with creative energy.
As the creative juices were flowing around the conference, so were the tasty snacks. In between speakers, many frequented the lounges for sweet treats, sodas or hot chocolate.
My two favorite parts of the conference were getting to know some of the other food bloggers more in depth… like beyond the online scene to seeing photos of their family, dogs and hearing about their lives. And secondly, I loved having the honor of touring a group around the city for a local food tour. You can read more about the food tour soon on theSLCfoodie.com. We made stops for a light lunch, award winning chocolate, cheese, salami, coffee, and of course pastries! We hopped on and off our little bus to get all of the best tastes Salt Lake has to offer. I think some who attended were surprised by all of the national recognition our city is getting in regards to food and drink!
After a few days of inspiration and meeting of new friends I’ll leave you with my recipe inspired by Alt Summit:
recipe inspired by the Better Homes and Gardens dessert served at Alt Summit
Ingredients
- 2 cups plain Greek Yogurt
- 2 oz mascarpone cheese (1/4 cup; you can also use goat cheese)
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (you can also use vanilla extract)
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup raspberry preserves (I used Amour Spreads)
- fresh berries to garnish
Instructions
- In a food processor combine greek yogurt, mascarpone, and honey. Process for 1.5 minutes or until the ingredients until they're velvety smooth.
- Reserve 1 cup of the yogurt mixture, adding the vanilla bean paste to that part. Add cocoa to the remaining mixture and process or whisk until smooth.
- Layer half of the chocolate mixture in 4-6 small glasses or jars. Spoon a few tablespoons of the vanilla bean mixture over the chocolate. Top with remaining chocolate mixture. Chill for at least 3 hours.
- In a small sauce pan, heat raspberry jam until just melted. Spoon over parfaits. Top with fresh berries.
Notes
you may substitute the goat cheese for the mascarpone, vanilla extract for the vanilla bean paste, and use whatever jam that you have on hand to top the parfaits off!
What a beautiful dessert. Sounds like you had a fantastic time at alt. Sorry I missed it.
you were missed but I’m the lucky one who gets to see you frequently 🙂
Alt Summit sounds like such a fun event – I’ve only ever been to one blogging event, and that was almost 2 years ago!
Heather, this was my first. Hopefully, one day we’ll unite at one together 🙂
Gorgeous parfaits! But I can’t get past the biscotti donuts and lavender hot chocolate in one of your Alt photos. So creative!
Oh yeah, I definitely splurged on that during some of the speakers!! It was amazing. The lavender hot cocoa was especially good, while the biscotti was just okay.
hi becky! i recently stumbled across your blog. i read your about section and fell in love with you immediately! we hold the same sentiments about our grandmothers. i often call it the laura petrie era(reference to the dick van dyke show) and fantasize that lifestyle. i love your style and this blog and am excited to follow along 😉
Caitlin, I love that you have a name for the era we adore!! Around the holidays we always rent old tv shows like I love Lucy or Mork and Mindy. I’ll have to rent the Dick Van Dyke show next time… I’ve only seen a few episodes. Thanks for saying hello!!