Chocolate-Rose Parfait

Well, I got back from Los Angeles last week, and boy did I need some down time after that! What a crazy trip - an exciting roller coaster of food, fun, and friends, not to mention great things to write about!

Since getting back, I've been experimenting a TON with cashews. I saw a couple places make raw cheese from cashews, as well as other things, so I'm going to be posting a lot of recipes in the future that use cashews. They're seriously THE most versatile nut (or seed, even) that I've found so far.

The roomies and I were spending another sunny spring day in the back yard, talking about food (like we usually do) and the idea to make chocolate parfait came into conversation. I wouldn't have thought to use rose water, except our rose bushes were blooming unusually early, and the flowers were simply striking in the (mostly) warm sunlight. What a treat, to pay homage to those lovely yellow roses!

This recipe is particularly good because it's almost like a vegan cashew nutella. (More on that thought as it develops. ;)) For our next installment of the "Tour de Cashew", allow me to present:

Chocolate-Rose Parfait

3 cups cashews
1 2/3 light coconut milk (1 can)
2 Tbsp. rose water
6 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1 Tbsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp agave (or honey)

a pint fresh strawberries, sliced
2 bananas, peeled and sliced

In a high speed blender, puree everything except fruit until smooth. It'll take a lot of scraping down in the blender toward the end because it gets so thick. Alternatively, you can blend the coconut and cashews first, then hand-mix the rest in. You really just want extra creamy cashews.

In a nice glass (we used martini, but you'll probably want something bigger!) layer the chocolate cream, strawberries, and bananas. Garnish with extra fruit, or even rose petals. We used plum blossoms from our huge tree in the back yard!