Dessert for any festive table

I decided to try a new dessert for New Year's Eve. Unlike my vegan Christmas Eve, I can use any products to prepare the festive spread for the last evening of the year.

In the past, my mom used to make the most divine dessert from gelled plain yogurt. There were three layers, one was vanilla with preserved white cherries, another was with lemon zest, and the third one was with cocoa powder. Mom would layer the three flavors in tall crystal glasses.  The presentation was spectacular, the taste was even better.

So, I decided to replicate at least the main idea.  Instead of gelatin and sugar, I decided to prepare a healthier version of the dessert. Hopefully, it would taste half as good as my mom's. Below is my Yogurt Banana Dessert.

Yogurt Banana Dessert

Ingredients (for six portions)
4 ripe bananas
1 Tbsp vanilla essence
1 (32 oz) container plain yogurt (low fat)
4 Tbsp chia seeds
2 Tbsp sugar (optional)
zest of one lemon
1 Tbsp of lemon juice
8 oz of frozen blueberries (or any other fruit, frozen or fresh)
2 Tbsp cocoa powder (unsweetened)
nuts to decorate

Directions
Blend the bananas, yogurt and vanilla, add the chia seeds. Leave in the refrigerator overnight. On the next day, divide into three batches and prepare the three layers. One batch of the yogurt mix is prepared with the frozen blueberries. The second with the zest and juice of a lemon. The third with cocoa powder. Decorate with anything you love. I had a few walnuts at hand.

Before I layered my dessert this morning, I read this post about what a great husband could do for the love of his life.  I sent the post to my daughter. Hopefully, she will read it too.

Yogurt fruit dessert

This is the real deal, no-added sugar dessert! The sugar comes from the fruit only; however, along with this natural sugar comes the fruit fiber. Therefore, after you enjoy this cool dessert, your blood sugar will not spike. Here it is:

Yogurt fruit dessert
Ingredients:
2 bananas, mashed
1 1/2 cups of plain yogurt (low fat is best)
2-3 Tbsp chia seeds
2-3 nectarines, peaches and/or plums (or any other fruit of choice such as quince, pear, apple)
1-2 Tbsp of your favorite cognac or rum (skip, if serving to children)
Optional: raisins, nuts, coconut, cinnamon, or natural unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions:
First, prepare the fruit mixture. Thinly cut the fruit of choice (peaches, nectarines, and plums work best). Steep the fruit and raisins in ½ cup of water under cover to desired softness. This will take very little time (a couple of minutes, but it depends on the type of fruit). Add 1-2 Tbsp rum (skip, if serving to children), mix gently. Cool the fruit prior to serving the dessert.

For the yogurt mixture, mash the bananas with a fork, add the yogurt and chia seeds. Leave in the refrigerator overnight. Before serving, you could freeze the yogurt mixture for one or more hours. Serve with the fruit mixture on top. Decorate with nuts, coconut or cocoa powder.