Recipe: (Steven Universe Dessert Series, Pt. 7) Rose’s Quartz’s Rosé and Peach Parfait

Rose Quartz is a character we’ve gotten to know entirely through her interactions with other characters, and even those occur entirely in flashbacks. It’s safe to say that she was a strong leader, well loved by the Gems that followed her. It’s also safe to say that she was extremely fond of earth and the creatures on it, even if in an unintentionally out of touch way.

“I love humans! You’re all so funny!”

Rose, “We Need To Talk”

Rose shares her optimism and (pardon the pun) rosey outlook with Steven. They both manage to cheer up those around them, and they’re both open to new experiences.

Between you and me, I also love that Rose is a chubbier gal. As the chubby little baker I am, I appreciate seeing her depicted as beautiful and a formidable fighter.

“[Rose] saw the beauty in everything.”

Pearl, about Rose

Rose’s dessert reflects the peach flavors in Steven’s dessert. She is a part of Steven, after all! I wanted to create a dessert that’s elegant but a little playful, and I think I achieved that. It also happens to be unique and darned tasty. My husband and I snuggled up on the sofa and shared one. It seems fitting that Rose’s dessert is one to share and bring people together.

Rose’s Quartz’s Rosé and Peach Parfait

Yields: 3 large parfaits to share or 6-8 smaller-sized parfaits.

Timing Notes: Meringues will need to be started a day ahead of time, and the parfaits themselves have to set between layers. I suggest creating each component in the order listed, with the peach mousse last to prevent it from setting too much to pipe. Assemble the layers a few hours before serving to allow all the layers to set.

RECIPES

Rose Meringues
100g (1/2 cup) sugar
Pinch cream of tartar
2 egg whites
1/2 tsp rose water (optional)
Pink gel food coloring

1. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 200F. In a large bowl, combine the eggs and cream of tartar and beat until foamy.
2. Continue beating the eggs, gradually drizzling in the sugar, until a stiff and glossy meringue forms and the eggs have tripled in volume. Add the rose water and a few drops of food coloring and mix to just combine. If the color is too pale, add more coloring one drop at a time until you’ve achieved your desired shade.
3. Immediately transfer the meringue into a large piping bag fitted with a rose tip (I recommend Ateco #104 for smaller roses and #Ateco 128 for larger ones). Using a flower nail, pipe your meringue roses and transfer them to the parchment sheet using a pair of scissors. (I will include some rose piping tips at the end of this entry!) Alternately, you can pipe simple rosettes with a large star tip. You’ll have plenty of leftover cookies, so have fun with it!
4. Bake the meringue roses for 2 hours, then turn off the oven and allow them to dry overnight without opening the oven door. The next morning, immediately transfer them to an airtight container. They will become sticky if exposed to air for too long, but will keep in an air-tight container for several days.

Crisped Rice Bits
75g white chocolate
2 cups crisped rice cereal

1. Heat the chocolate in the microwave in 10 second intervals, stirring between each heating, until melted. Pour over rice cereal and toss to combine. Spread the mixture on a parchment lined cookie sheet and allow to cool before breaking into smaller pieces.

Chocolate Stars
75g (about 1/2 cup) tempered white chocolate or melted coating chocolate

1. If you have a cookie cutter in the shape of a star that’s a good size, just use that. If you don’t, cut a star from a sheet of paper to make a stencil. Spread the chocolate thinly onto a piece of parchment or acetate (thin flexible plastic) and allow it to set until the top is no longer tacky, but the chocolate is not completely hard. Place your star stencil on top of the chocolate and cut out one star for each parfait with a sharp knife. Allow the chocolate to set entirely, then flip the parchment or plastic over and peel it back to allow the stars to pop out.

Rosé Wine Jelly
350ml (1 1/2 cups) rosé wine
400g (2 cups) sugar
28g (1 oz) pectin
60ml (1/4 cup) lemon juice

1. In a saucepan whisk together the wine, lemon juice and pectin. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil, then whisk in the sugar. Allow this mixture to come back to a boil, and let it boil for one minute. Transfer the jelly to a heatproof bowl and cover it with plastic wrap.

Whipped Cream
500ml (2 cups) heavy cream
30g (2 tbsp) sugar
2 tsp gelatin
2 tbsp water

1.In small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over cold water and allow to bloom for 5 minutes. In a large bowl, beat the sugar and cream together until they reach soft peaks.
2. Gently warm the gelatin, either over a double boiler or in the microwave. Either way, be sure the gelatin has dissolved, but do not allow the mixture to boil.
3. Pour the gelatin mixture into your heavy cream while mixing, and mix on medium-high speed until you just achieve medium-stiff peaks. Fill into two piping bags: one third of the cream into a bag fitted with a large star tip, and the rest into a bag without a tip.

Peach Mousse
500ml (2 cups) peach puree (you can blend fresh or frozen peaches and run them through a sieve, but do not use canned peaches as they have added sugar)
100g (1/2 cups) sugar
30ml (2 tbsp) lemon juice
1 tbsp gelatin
45ml (3 tbsp) cold water
350ml (1 1/2 cups) heavy cream

1. Sprinkle gelatin over cold water and allow to sit for 5 minutes. In the meantime, combine your peach puree, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring periodically, until the peaches are thoroughly cooked. Remove from the heat and stir in the gelatin while still hot. Allow to cool.
2. Once the peach mixture is cooled to room temperature but not set, begin whipping your cream in a large bowl. When the cream reaches soft-medium peaks, fold it into the peach mixture until well combined. Fill into a large piping bag and set aside.

ASSEMBLY

1. Using your piping bag, squeeze a small layer of jelly into the bottom of each parfait glass. Pop them in the freezer for 10 minutes to set up, then pipe in a layer of peach mousse. If your peach mousse has firmed up too much, use your hands to squish it around in the piping bag a bit to soften things up. Sprinkle on a few of your rice bits and return the parfaits to the freezer for 15 minutes.

2. Remove the parfaits from the fridge. Pipe on a thin layer of whipped cream. Sprinkle on some more rice bits, and pipe on another cream layer. Make sure the top layer of the cream is touching the glass on all sides, or the next jelly layer will leak through. Now, repeat the previous steps.
3. On top of the last layer of whipped cream, add more peach mousse and return the parfaits to the fridge. Once they’re set, add the final layer of jelly. Now, using the cream in the star tip, pipe a rosette of cream on top of each parfait.

4. Arrange your chocolate stars and rose meringues on top of the whipped cream, then serve! Be sure to wait to add the meringues until right before serving, as they will soften and melt otherwise.

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TIPS FOR PIPING ROSES

First of all, you’ll need a good rose tip and a flower nail. I suggest Ateco #104 for smaller roses, and Ateco #128 for larger ones. I’ll include a link further down. This is a text explanation of the process, but for those that learn better with videos this Global Sugar Art video is a great reference. Note that I set down my base differently, using a flower nail and dollop of meringue. However, the motions for the petals are the same.

1. Line a cookie sheet with parchment. Begin by piping a tall dollop onto your flower nail. This will be what you build the entire rose around.
2. Setting the thick side of your rose tip against the top of the dollop, carefully pipe a line while twirling the flower nail. Once you’ve achieved a swirl, drag the line down to connect with the base of the flower nail. This keeps the rose from becoming top heavy.
3. Using an arch shape beginning at the base of the nail and ending at the base of the nail, pipe two or three petals around the center. Use the same motion, turning the flower nail to position the petals.
4. Repeat with 5 outer petals, Be sure to end each petal at the base of the nail.

5. Move the rose by lifting them with a slightly open pair of scissors. Transfer them to your cookie sheet, closing the scissors to snip off the rose and let it sit on the sheet.
6. Practice, practice, practice! If your rose turns out lopsided, just scrape it back into the bowl. It’s okay to use meringue for piping a couple of times. Don’t be too hard on yourself if it takes you a while to get it right; piping roses is difficult to learn for most everyone.

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I hope you all can try this dessert at home! The flavors are very unique and fresh, and really give off a spring/summer feeling.

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