BALSAMIC STRAWBERRIES WITH WHIPPED MASCARPONE
Strawberry season is setting in here. Yes, it’s winter & still quite cold, but this is when we begin to see strawberries entering the market. Steeply priced, but far too tempting to turn away from, I bought a box to see what I could do with them. 
I also stumbled upon some locally made mascarpone cheese & my heart skipped a beat. You see most mascarpone we get here is imported & exorbitantly priced. I was thrilled to find a local variety & bought 2 tubs. Bought some goat cheese & fresh mozzarella too. More about the latter another day. I came home really happy with my loot, felt stupidly excited like Mr Bean, & had just one thought on my mind … Balsamic vinegar & strawberries with whipped mascarpone cream. 
Had read about these on Epicurean, & on numerous blogs over the past year, & was mighty intrigued by the very thought. 
You better be convinced Jeanne that I am indeed radically departing from our lifelong perception of strawberries & cream being only served sweet, & vinegar only going the savoury way. Not quite creative as this is a tried & tested route, but way off what we at home consider dessert! I added some freshly ground pepper to the balsamic syrup for good measure, & further departure for normalcy. 
Must say we had an interesting dessert; strawberries that gave us a peppery kick, & then the sweetness of the cream that took over! We enjoyed our portions, savouring the sweetness & the new flavours. As far as the kids go, the daughter enjoyed the change, but the son said he preferred just the cream, though he did eventually have the strawberries too. 
The mascarpone was a tad disappointing & not as fresh as I hoped it would taste. Was a bit granular & somewhat less moist & creamy than I thought it should be. I think I’ll have to try another brand & compare, but the dessert tasted really nice. I scraped half a vanilla bean & added the beans to the cream & mascarpone. I meant to add some freshly crushed pepper to the cream too, but I didn’t want the family to radically leave the dessert & run away! That swap would have been too disastrous for my preciously priced strawberries.
Here’s a post then, celebrating 2 events that take place today. The 60th Republic Day in India, & the Chinese New Year. January 26, 2009 is the first day of the Chinese new year, & 2009 is the Year of the Ox…Kung Hei Fat Choy!
BALSAMIC STRAWBERRIES WITH WHIPPED MASCARPONEas adapted from Epicurean
Ingredients:
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
4 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup chilled mascarpone cheese*
1 cup chilled whipping cream
1 vanilla bean – seeds scraped; (or 2 teaspoon vanilla extract)
2-3 tbsps castor sugar
1 basket (about 200gms) strawberries, hulled, quartered
1 sachet vanilla sugar (optional)
Fresh mint for garnishing
Method:
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Combine vinegar, 2 tbsps sugar, and pepper in heavy small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Boil until syrup is reduced to scant 1/4 cup, about 3-5 minutes. Transfer to small bowl; cool completely. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
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Combine mascarpone, cream, vanilla seeds, and Castor sugar in medium bowl. Whisk until thick soft peaks form. Cover and refrigerate up to 4 hours.
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Combine berries and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in large bowl; drizzle with balsamic syrup and toss to blend. Let stand 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
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Spoon in mascarpone mixture into 6 goblets. Divide berries and syrup & top the whipped mascarpone.
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Sprinkle with vanilla sugar, & add a sprig of mint if desired.
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Serve chilled within an hour or so. Balsamic vinegar tends to ‘cook’ the strawberries & soften them if kept mixed together for too long.
Deeba @ PAB
About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.
34 Comments
Asha
Sweet, tangy and fruity, great combination!!
Pavani
Strawberry with balsamic vinegar sounds awesome. Great pics.
Linda
Local strawberries are at their peak in June where I live. They are so sweet! I have used balsamic on them several times. I love your presentation with the mascarpone cheese. I am going to try this. (maybe with the Florida berries that are coming into season and will be in the grocery soon).
Gera @ SweetsFoods
Hi Deeba!
Your strawberries with whipped mascarpone are a true gorgeous master-piece 🙂
Thanks so much for visiting my blog, I want to congrat you for your so cute-tempting blog!!
Cheers!
Gera
Mike of Mike's Table
Balsamic and strawberries is one of those combos that has always wowed me. This presentation of this classic combo looks fantastic!
Joy the Baker
Just lovely! You have strawberries so early! Amazing!
Lydia (The Perfect Pantry)
Strawberries macerated in balsamic is one of my favorite desserts of all time — so simple and elegant, and the perfect ending to most every meal.
Vera
What can be better than this? Nothing!!! Wonderful dessert, Deeba!
A_and_N
I’d love to try this soon. I have all the ingredients right now..Hmm.. 😀
Sara
This looks beautiful! Strawberries and balsamic are a great combination.
Bunny
I’ve never had strawberries with balsamic vinegar, it does sound very tempting though!
Helene
I wish we had fresh strawberries at this time of the year. Love your dessert.
lisa (dandysugar)
I love this beautiful dessert! Strawberries and balsamic are a great combination. Very elegant, Deeba!
Elra
Balsamic vinegar and berries always delicious, add mascarpone cheese, wow… it must tastes divine.
Cheers,
Elra
noble pig
Oh very nice. What good finds you came home with to make such a beautiful dessert. I do think marscapone has such a wonderful flavor.
pedatha.com
Hi Deeba, Lovely masthead, fabulous photographs and also enjoyed reading the quote from Goethe. Reading this post was quite a treat…so detailed and well presented. Cheers!
Happy cook
I love the combinationof balsamic and strawberry.
I do think there is some magic in thie combo.
Vrinda
Hi Deeba
i was looking for a perfect baking blog,glad i found ur blog…i lov baking especially cakes…lots of cake recipes in ur blog,will try them soon….
Núria
I will never get tired to tell you that: I LOVE YOUR PICTURES!!!!!!! The recipe looks gorgeous too Deeba :D. Can’t wait to try it when I first see strawberries here!
Screaming Meme
Im in love with your blog…Hi…I want to personally invite you to a new blog I created…Project:{Create A Home}…It is a place for inspiring and creative women to come together to be inspired to reach all their goals and dreams in life…And my personal decorating blog…Screaming Meme…I hope to see you there! Meme
How To Eat A Cupcake
I am just mesmerized by your pictures!
The Blonde Duck
These look like such a sweet treat!
Reeni♥
A beautiful dessert and wonderful flavors you’ve paired together. Gorgeous photos, as always! We are seeing strawberries here too, in the middle of winter!
Gloria Chadwick
I love strawberries with balsamic vinegar and your addition of the marscapone sounds wonderful!
There’s an award for you on my blog.
noobcook
How dainty and pretty looking glasses. Perfect for home parties 😀
Dragon
Oh I can’t wait until it is strawberry season here again. Until then I’ll have to just look at your photos to satisfy me. 🙂
Ning
Very interesting combination! I’m sure this makes a lovely dessert! 🙂
Gloria
Deeba wonderful pictures as well! and these look so yummy! I love as look this desserts is beauty , really I love strawberries!!!! xxxxGloria
diva
deeba, this is one sexy pudding! balsamic and strawberries are amazing together. this reminds me a lot of Eton Mess…yummy. x
Ivy
We ate strawberries for the first time this year yesterday but they weren’t as expensive as I expected them to be. Did you use any special type of balsamic vinegar Deeba or the ordinary we use in our everyday cooking? The dessert sounds great and lovely pictures as well.
Manggy
That looks so elegant, Deeba (and VERY different, esp. for the kids). Too bad about the cheese, though, and I definitely think you should report back to the makers so they can improve their product.
Purnima
Berries clicked so well..cant imagine the flavors here, but the last pic has me in awe..u r one person who never turns back to food experiments! WOW..n hv i missed out on so many posts..the cracker wt cheese..looks just too delicious..used to love those ads of monaco wt yum toppings, n the TOm-Zuc soup looks soooo warmth spreading! I can sip it just like that! WHat lovely posts!!!
Bharti
Pretty pretty..it looks so elegant.
I tried this one time too with my regular every day balsamic vinegar and found it very interesting. I think the balsamic has to be of really good quality for this one to taste the way its meant to.
Jeanne
Clever, clever! And of course I’ll accept it for WTSIM – think of it as a fruit salad dressed like a green salad with vinegar and pepper 🙂 The first time I heard about strawberries with balsamic vinegar and pepper, I could not imagine it being nice but the flavours really do work! Thanks so much for taking part 🙂