Creamy white chocolate mousse, buttery shortbread and slices of ripe strawberries in a brilliant red sauce are layered in stemmed glasses making both a lovely presentation and taste delight!

White Chocolate-Strawberry Mousse Parfait

Mousse:
8 ounces premium quality white chocolate, coarsely chopped (must contain cocoa butter to melt properly and to set)
1 large egg
1 cup heavy cream, heated until very hot (do not boil)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dash kosher or sea salt

Crust Layer:
8 shortbread cookies (such as Walker's Shortbread), crushed to fine crumb
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted

Strawberry Sauce:
2 cups fresh strawberries, stemmed and hulled* 2 tablespoons honey or to taste

Garnish:
6 whole strawberries
1/2 cup lightly sweetened whipped cream

For Mousse: Place chopped white chocolate, egg and vanilla into the container of electric blender and blend for 30 seconds.
Remove center of blender lid and while machine is running on medium to low speed, slowly pour heated cream into the chocolate mixture. Blend until well mixed and chocolate is melted. Pour mixture into a large mixing bowl and refrigerate until well chilled, about 2 hours.
With an electric mixer, beat the mousse mixture until stiff peaks form.
For Crust Layer: In a small bowl, combine the crushed shortbread cookies with the melted butter, mixing well.
Dividing the ingredients evenly, first lightly press half the crust mixture into the bottom of 6 parfait glasses. Carefully spoon half the mousse atop the crust mixture, then sprinkle evenly with remaining crust mixture; spoon the strawberry sauce atop the crust layer and then spoon the remaining mousse atop the strawberry sauce. Chill until ready to serve.
Just before serving, spoon a dollop of whipped cream on top of each parfait and decorate with a whole strawberry that has been sliced just to the green stem and fanned out.
For Strawberry Sauce: In a food processor or blender, puree 1/2 cup strawberries on high speed until smooth. Place puree in a small mixing bowl.
Slice the remaining 1 1/2 cups strawberries and add to the pureed strawberries. Stir in the honey; using more or less according to personal preference. Makes 1 cup sauce.

Makes 6 servings.

*Frozen whole strawberries, thawed slightly, may be substituted for the fresh strawberries when not in season.

Cook's Tips:

Other types of berries or soft-fleshed, juicy fruit such as ripe peaches can also be used.
For more texture and flavor, try adding a few tablespoons of finely chopped toasted nuts to the mousse before layering.

Nutritional Information Per Serving (1/6 of recipe, including garnish and whipped cream): 476.3 calories; 63% calories from fat; 35.2g total fat; 103.2mg cholesterol; 109.3mg sodium; 275.1mg potassium; 42.1g carbohydrates; 3.6g fiber; 30.1g sugar; 38.5g net carbs; 4.6g protein.