It is almost New Years Eve. Can you believe we are about to roll into 2011?! This has been anamazing year & I wanted to offer you a quick & easy dessert that you can prepare for yourself & guests this weekend or anytime. When I saw Sprinkle Bakes Sparkling Champagne Cupcakes I knew that bubbly was a flavor direction I wanted to take.
I crawled the web for pudding recipes and they were all filled with refined sugar & loads of fat. I figured since we are kicking off a new year, why not lighten up this dessert, add a splash of celebration champagne while keeping all the flavor of a traditional creamy pudding. With the added bonus of health.
I love my job. I tell you that time & time again throughout the year. There are many parts to being a food blogger. I cook, bake, taste test, style food, photograph it & then carefully write up a blog post that hopefully gets you guys in your own kitchen to cook for your families.
My mission with each post is to make you smile & to fill your plates with whole food meals that you created with your own hands. Nothing nourishes the soul more than hugs, kisses & a home cooked meal. When we take a few minutes out of our weekend to prep ingredients and then a few more minutes throughout the week to prepare meals, healthy minds and bodies are the reward.
I live a low-glycemic, virtuallysugar free life because it makes me feel better. Meals in our house are made from the finest ingredients I can source & afford. I enjoy crawling the web for recipes & then tailoring it to suit our needs. I share my treasures with you. This pudding is sugar free (stevia sweetened), lower in fat than most & easily flavored to taste.
I served this to 18 family members “testers” here in Grand Cayman. I got an overall thumbs up! If you are serving this to kids & you don’t want them to have any of the champagne, simply divide the vanilla pudding into two bowls & stir it in to taste.
We all loved the idea of a do it yourself dessert bar. You can keep each element in separate bowls: the pudding, the two sauces, fresh berries and a bottle of champagne handy if any one wants to top off their pudding parfait with an extra splash!
What do you have planned for New Years Eve? Are you going out or staying home? Did you make a list of New Years resolutions?
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Variations
- Chop up some toasted nuts to layer in these pudding parfaits. Pecans, hazelnuts, walnuts, macadamia, etc. would add texture & crunch.
- Instead of fresh fruit you can also use chopped dried fruit or a combo of the two.
- Serve pudding with chocolate shavings or chocolate sauce.
- I had some of this on my morning bowl of oatmeal & I cannot begin to tell you how good it was.
Pudding Recipe Links
- Bourbon Laced Vanilla Pudding Veggiewala
- Butterscotch Pudding Deliciously Organic
- Mango Pudding Almost Bourdain
- Maple Butterscotch Pudding I’ll Have What She’s Having
- Shortbread & Eggnog Pudding Trifles Sprinkle Bakes
- Vanilla Pudding Martha Stewart Recipes
This is so pretty and just looks delicious. Beautiful!
A great pudding! I love the colors.
Just made trifle today… A little similar.
Happy New Year!
Cheers,
Rosa
This is really beautiful, Marla! I love your lightened up version and it’s so fun and special with the Champagne. The berry sauce is stunning!
Wow Marla! These look great. I can imagine enjoying this pudding with a side of bubbly!
Happy New Year!
What a great use of champagne! Yummy!
I thought at first it would be straight champagne and no
milk. This sounds better, but now I think I might like to try it
with champagne only too, pretty expensive pudding though,
haha.
Wow… you just made me want to make a grocery store run!!
Great recipe girl!
this is beautiful…and sounds amazing!
Your pudding looks so pretty. I don’t know if I would be able to eat it!!
Great recipe! I’ve used stevia in tea as a sugar replacement, but I’ve never tried to make anything with it. Thanks for this recipe!
I love these, Marla! So cute and the perfect party food.
Gorgeous dessert! What a great way to ring in the new year! Happy New Year!
I love berries! definitely a great recipe to ring in the new year 🙂
The perfect new years treat! They look so cute. Hope you have a great new years weekend Marla 🙂
What a festive dessert! Happy New Year!!!
Adding champagne to pudding is a great idea. And I love your presentation with the berries. Happy New Year!
those are gorgeous! and i love the fruit component! cheers to your and your family and much love and happiness in 2011! xx
Your photos are gorgeous! These look delicious!!!
This looks so pretty! Love the idea of adding Champagne to
the pudding. Happy New Year!
These sound (and look) super festive!
Happy New Year!
This looks like such a pretty and festive dessert for New Year’s Eve…and delicious too! 😉 Happy New Year!
wow these look awesome your a great blogger keep up the good work
happy new year
lol Rebecca
This is truly a genius take on pudding! I’d much rather eat
my champagne than drink it. Honestly, I’m not a big drinker (but
you wouldn’t know that from all the boozy desserts on my blog).
Believe me when I say that you *fulfill* your mission of making us
smile and providing wonderful healthful treats. Thank you so much
and Happy New Year!! (Woo-hoo 2011 here we come!)
Your parfaits are beautiful, and are a perfect holiday dessert! I’ve never used stevia, but just bought some yesterday at the grocery and am anxious to try it. I hope you have a lovely new year!
Too festive and yummy! Pudding is such comfort food. Champagne makes it downright sinful (in a good way of course!) Happy New Year Marla – to the prettiest girl (and blog) on the block! xo
Kelly: Yup this pudding is comforting & sinful at the same time…..the fact that it is healthy makes it even better. I finished it off with a giant bowl of oats this morning. Happy New Year to you too my friend. May it be a year filled with fantastically filled lunch boxes for all 🙂
Betty: Best of luck with that stevia – I always hope people have great experiences with it because it is life changing. For me it is the best way to add sweetness without mood swings, high’s & low’s and weight gain.
Heather: Whenever I dash over to your blog I am wowed by your gorgeous photography & brilliant creativity with recipe development. I can’t wait to see what you will be baking up for us in 2011!
And I would like a taste right now! Yummy! Happy New Year, friend!
These are just so pretty. What a wonderful way to say hello to the next year!
Wishing you a fab 2011. Happy New Years to you and your family 🙂
*kisses* HH
This sounds delicious! And I love that it is healthier than you expect. Thanks for sharing!
I saw those cupcakes as well and absolutely fell in love with the idea of a champagne-infused dessert! I love how healthy this is. What a great way to start off the new year!
I love the champagne-pudding combo, what a great way to
celebrate the new year! Happy New Year!
Looks delicious. Sure am jealous of that Grand Cayman
trip!! Happy New Year, my Friend!
So pretty! I hope you have a fabulous New Years and New
Year! x0x
What an adorable and festive dessert. So colorful too. I love how you added champagne to the pudding…I would have never thought of that. Great for my gluten-free friends.
I wish you and Happy & Healthy New Year, Marla!
Trish: Yes, this dessert is perfect for those that are gluten free. It is always nice to know that everyone can enjoy their sweets on the holidays.
Lori: Wish you were here with me – better yet, wish you were heading back to Mexico with us in a few days.
The pudding looks good. But the photos are simply amazing! I can see each raspberry seed! What type of camera do you use? Do you have a trick. My photography is sad!
Serena: Thanks for your kind words! I use a Canon EOS 10D & those pics were shot with my 24-70 lens. That thing can get in nice & tight for those seeds!
Sommer: I just added the tag “Valentine’s Day” to this recipe – now how could I forget that. Our next important foodie holiday & this dessert would be very special shared with a special someone!
This looks absolutely delicious and very creative! Definitely worth a shot for Valentines Day! Thanks for sharing and Happy New Year!
This is so festive. Thanks for sharing.
how elegant, and perfect for a celebration such as ringing in the new year. really lovely concoction, marla–happy 2011!
This excellent, healthy dessert suits all of my new year’s resolutions and, better yet, involves exactly zero deprivation and a double dose of yum! Happy new year, dear Marla.
Oh yea, these lil dessert cups look deliciously divine!
What a great dessert to ring in the new year with 🙂 I tagged you
on my blog today! Happy 2011~!~!
http://thescenefromme.com/2011/01/01/ive-been-tagged/
This is such a great idea, Marla! Happy New Year to you, my
friend.
OMG those look amazing! Hope you had a wonderful new
year!
You had me at vanilla and champagne! Happy New Year friend!
Lovely idea, Marla – very festive, celebratory and smart. The photo of the party favours is definitely mood altering!
We went to the Banff Springs Hotel and had a magical New Years Eve weekend.
I love the celebration with the kids, when they are young, too!
🙂
Valerie
What a festive dessert – I wish I’d had this to ring in the
New Year! Hope you had a happy one 🙂
Champagne IN pudding. I am sooooo on board 🙂
The do it yourself dessert bar idea is perfect for a party and these are just perfect for a celebration! Happy New Years!!
Sylvie, this pudding was so awesome I actually mixed it into my oatmeal the next morning! I had to put some aside so I knew there would be leftovers!