“Streetcar” inspired Cherry ‘Soda’ & Whisky Cream Parfaits with Spiced Broken Hearts by Chef Kira Smith

This year, Hollywood Suite is celebrating the darker side of Valentine’s Day with the premiere of Into the Dark and a collection of anti-love films we’re calling Bad Romance. To help us get in the spirit, we asked Kira Smith, the senior corporate chef of Newly Weds Foods to come up with a recipe to mark the occasion. Her delectable desert dish, inspired by A Streetcar Named Desire, is a cherry ‘soda’ and whisky cream parfait with spiced broken hearts.

Check out Kira’s recipe below and catch A Streetcar Named Desire all this month on Hollywood Suite On Demand.

Cherry ‘Soda’ & Whisky Cream Parfaits with Spiced Broken Hearts

Recipe by Kira Smith, Newly Weds Foods

‘Bubbly’ cherry jello layered with whisky-spiked Chantilly cream and spiced cookie crumbles. A combination of smooth, silky, and crunchy textures. All 3 elements are easy to prepare. The cookies can be made a day in advance and stored in an air-tight container, if desired. Jello and cream should be prepared the day they are served.

An homage to the tortured character of Blanche Dubois. I tried to create a recipe with some hidden, and not so hidden, references to the time, place, personalities, and themes of the film. For example, while JELL-O (the brand) was developed in the US, gelatin desserts were initially a delicacy of the French aristocracy and Blanche Dubois is all about putting on airs. Also, the movie premiered in 1951 when jello desserts and salads (ick) were incredibly fashionable. In many ways they were considered a ‘feminine food’ – tidy, contained, pretty to look at, etc.

Prep time: About 3 ½ hours; only 1/3 of the time is active prep and tidying up, the rest is chilling (the jello, the cookies, and you)

Yield: Enough for 3, 1-cup parfaits

Ingredients

For Cherry ‘Soda’ Jello

• 1 3oz pkg Cherry Jello
• ½ cup boiling water
• 1 cup soda water, refrigerated over night

For Spiced Broken Hearts

• ½ cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp finely cracked black pepper
• pinch salt
• ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• ¼ cup plus 1 tbsp sugar

For Whisky Cream

• ½ cup 35% whipping cream
• 1 Tbsp (or to taste) sugar
• 2 Tbsp (or to taste) whisky*
• ½ tsp (or to taste) vanilla extract
• optional garnish 3 maraschino cherries

Directions

Make Cherry ‘Soda’ Jello First

• Place jello powder in heat-safe bowl. Stir in boiling water until jello is completely dissolved. Place bowl in fridge and chill for 10 minutes (use a timer); do not skip this step, you want the jello slightly cooled but not setting.
• Remove jello from fridge and add chilled soda water; gently pour in to 3 glasses, dividing it equally. Refrigerate until set, about 2 hours. Small whisky glasses or mason jars work well.

Make the Spiced Broken Hearts while the jello is setting

• Preheat oven to 325F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Sift flour, ginger, pepper, and salt together and set aside.
• By hand, or using a mixer, cream the softened butter with the sugar. Add the flour mixture and stir until combined; dough will be fairly firm.
• Using 1 Tbsp of dough for each cookie, form dough in to 1-inch balls and place at least 2 inches apart on parchment-line sheet. Using your hand, flatten to about ¼ inch thick – try to make all of the cookies the same thickness for even baking.
• Channel your inner child and form 3 of the flattened cookies into heart shapes. HINT: make an upside-down teardrop shape and then use the tip of a knife to shape the top. Once formed, use a knife to cut down the centre of the 3 hearts; although the dough will spread and touch while baking, this will make it easier to break the hearts into halves without crumbling.
• Bake cookies for 13 to 16 minutes or until just light golden. Remove tray from oven and let cookies cool completely on tray. Once the cookies are cool, carefully ‘break’ the 3 hearts in half; these 3 ‘broken hearts’ will be used for garnish. Crumble the remaining cookies in to small pieces and set aside.

Make the Whisky Cream and layer the parfaits to serve

• By hand, or using a mixer, whip the cream until soft peaks form, gradually adding the sugar. Add the *whisky and vanilla extract and continue to whip just until beginning to form firm peaks; do not over whip.
• To serve, top the prepared jello with the cookie crumbles, dividing them equally, and top with a thick layer of whipped cream. Garnish with a broken heart and a maraschino cherry, if using.
• *For a non-alcoholic dessert, omit the whisky and increase vanilla extract to 1 tsp.

About Kira Smith, Sr. Corporate Chef, Newly Weds Foods

Kira headed to George Brown College Culinary School after graduating from UWO and has been in the foodservice industry for over 25 years. While her early career was spent in the kitchens and pastry kitchens of Toronto hotels and restaurants, she pivoted to corporate roles first as test kitchen coordinator at Sobeys, and then corporate chef at Kraft Foods before a stint in FS sales with a focus on healthcare and nutrition. In her current role at Newly Weds Kira works with R&D, sales, and marketing in developing food concepts for both retail and foodservice customers. Avid reader, busy mom and wife, and member of the Canadian Culinary Federation, Kira’s recipe for life is equal parts love, laughter and creativity.