Elegant and delicious, these cherry pie parfaits are layered with homemade vanilla pudding, cherries, pie crust, and whipped cream.

July 20, 2021 Updated April 22, 2022 Jump to Recipe
Elegant and delicious, these cherry pie parfaits are layered with homemade vanilla pudding, cherries, pie crust, and whipped cream.
This recipe is a story of obsession.
Of one woman’s journey to enjoy a dessert…
That she tried one time at Whole Foods.
But then could never find ever again.
It’s a story of triumph, tribulation, of a sweet tooth eventually rewarded.
Of realizing that when it comes to addicting desserts, you don’t want to be at the mercy of an unreliable grocery store bakery schedule.
You want to have the power to create said addicting dessert in your own kitchen.
Because at the end of the day, no one cares about your sweet tooth the way you do.
Ok, humor aside, the following is a true story.
A couple months ago, I went to Whole Foods for a few groceries. I couldn’t resist checking out what desserts were available, so I did.
And what I discovered was the most delicious store-bought dessert I’ve had in recent memory.
It was a cherry pie parfait.
This parfait was so good.
So good in fact, that three days after eating the parfait, I was still dreaming about it.
So I went to Whole Foods to get another cherry pie parfait. And they didn’t have any.
No big deal, I decided to try again the next day.
But the same thing happened, no cherry pie parfaits.
I tried my luck again the next day, but thought I’d be smart, and call the Whole Foods bakery first. I was informed that they didn’t have cherry pie parfaits that day, but they would tomorrow morning.
Well, guess what Whole Foods didn’t have the next morning?
Yeah. Cherry pie parfaits.
This game of calling Whole Foods, being told that they’d have cherry pie parfaits at a certain time, and then me showing up at the store only to discover that whoever I spoke with on the phone didn’t know what they were talking about, went on for about two weeks.
I’m not going to tell you how many times I went to Whole Foods in my quest for this elusive parfait because it would be embarrassing.
Finally it dawned on me that this was stupid.
I could very easily make my own cherry pie parfaits, even with a few improvements to the one I was obsessing over.
So I did. And the result is these elegant cherry pie parfaits.
Each layer is homemade, and each layer is delicious on its own. Which means when you put the vanilla pudding, cherry filling, pie crust, and whipped cream all together, it’s just about the best dessert ever.
You can take my word for it, but you should really just make these parfaits at home yourself, and taste what I mean.
I think you’ll understand why I’m still happily obsessing over them.
I recommend compiling and serving the parfaits in 5-6 ounce glasses. Here are my favorite on Amazon [aff. link]. You’ll get 10-12 parfaits using this size cup.
I also recommend using vanilla paste in the pudding. When you use vanilla paste, you get those gorgeous, vanilla bean speckles in the pudding at an affordable price. Here’s my favorite vanilla paste on Amazon [aff. link], but feel free to substitute the vanilla paste in my recipe with vanilla extract if that’s what you have on hand.
For the whipped cream, I prefer to pipe it on top of the parfaits. It adds to the presentation. Alternately, you can just dollop the whipped cream on top of each parfait. It’s definitely a lot easier.
If you do feel like going all out and piping the whipped cream, I recommend using a cupcake injector. I got my cupcake injector set at Sprouts years ago, but this one by Norpro [aff. link] is very similar to the one I use.
This Post Has 4 Comments
Well I would say your challenge was a success! I totally know what you mean about stalking things like this cherry pie parfait. (On a side note, I’m glad it was tasty – grocery store desserts in our area are usually sorely disappointing!) This sounds like the perfect summer dessert, and those glasses are such a great way to serve the parfaits!
Oh my goodness so true David! Usually I don’t even bother with desserts at the grocery store. Disappointing is the right word! These parfaits were a rare exception. Haha thank you! I had a lot of fun with these glasses.
I’m certainly happy that Whole Foods didn’t have the parfaits because if they did…we wouldn’t have your delicious dessert to try.
Haha thanks Karen! 😄