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Coconut & Mascarpone Dessert Parfait

I first learned about the beauty of mixing mascarpone cheese, cream cheese, heavy cream, and sugar from a Spanish chef named Fran, short for Francisco. He taught me how to make this no-bake cheesecake base in a pinch, when you are short on time and need to feed a crowd.
This dessert comes together in minutes, and resembles a layered, no-bake cheesecake. It’s delicious, easy to make, and fresh. Your guests will love it!
If you want the adjust the flavors slightly, you can easily add components like dark or white chocolate, coffee, or even some coconut milk and chai spice to the mix—the cream cheese and mascarpone cheese base serves as a wonderful canvas for whatever additional flavors you would like to incorporate into this amazing dessert!
If you are adding coffee, I tend to add espresso, or a very strongly-brewed and concentrated coffee, to avoid making the base layer too thin.
The follow recipe makes roughly eight desserts.

Ingredients

  • 8 graham crackers (broken up & crumbled)
  • 1 cup mascarpone cheese (softened)
  • ½ cup cream cheese (softened)
  • 2 Tbsp heavy cream
  • 3 Tbsp white granulated sugar
  • 2 Tbsp coconut flakes
  • A small pinch of Kosher salt
  • 2 cups fresh strawberries (cut into quarters)
  • 16 fresh raspberries (as garnish)
  • A few extra coconut flakes (as garnish)
  • ¼ cup pecans (toasted, as garnish)
  • 2 mint leaves (finely slices, as garnish)

Instructions 

  • Crumble the graham crackers and distribute the contents at the bottom of eight serving glasses.
  • In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the mascarpone cheese, softened cream cheese, heavy cream, and white granulated sugar until you have arrived at a smooth consistency.
  • Fold in the coconut flakes, along with a small pinch of Kosher salt.
  • On top of the graham cracker base, add a scoop of the filling to each of the serving glasses.
  • Add some fresh strawberries on top of the mascarpone filling layer.
  • Add another scoop of the mascarpone filling, along with another layer of the fresh strawberries.
  • Gently toast some pecans in a sauté pan without added fat, and remove after a minute or two.
  • Finely slice the toasted pecans, and set them aside for later.
  • Add a few fresh raspberries, coconut flakes, sliced and toasted pecans, and finely-sliced mint leaves on top of each serving glass, if desired.

Notes

You can assemble these desserts in advance of serving, and keep them cool in the fridge, although note that the fresh strawberries have a tendency to drain out some liquid after they are cut.