Strawberries & Cream

Before...

  

and After!

I made this for my friend's dinner party last night and was a big hit! It's a relatively simple recipe and can be plated beautifully for nice presentation and easy transportation. Enjoy and please share pics if you have other plating ideas! Enjoy!

Some recipes on the blogosphere call for the use of whipping cream instead of heavy cream, which I used (and pictured in "Before") but that did not work for me. I had to re-do this recipe with heavy cream. 

With Heavy Whipped Cream - #Fail 

 
With Heavy Cream - #WhippedSuccess

Berries with Mascarpone Cheese in Balsamic Reduction Sauce 

Serves 5

Ingredients:
Strawberries - 15 medium-size strawberries
Blueberries - 1 small box, ~6 oz

[for Whipped Mascarpone*]
Mascarpone Cheese - 8 oz (usually 1 carton)
Heavy Cream - 0.5 pint
Vanilla Extract - 1 teaspoons
Sugar - 4 tablespoons
*basically equal parts mascarpone and heavy cream

[optional - for Balsamic Sauce]

Balsamic Vinegar - 2 oz

Lemon Juice - splash, ~0.25 teaspoon

Sugar - 1 teaspoon 
Note: I have also made this dish without the balsamic sauce and it is just as good, so feel free to skip that touch of fanciness.

[optional - for plating]
Tumbler Plastic Glasses - 5x 9-oz glasses (buy online or in person in NYC)

Directions:
1. Combine mascarpone cheese, heavy cream, vanilla extract and sugar in a bowl and whisk until it gels and does not drip (which usually takes me 5-15 min by hand). Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours.

2. Combine balsamic vinegar, lemon juice and sugar in sauce pan. Stir over medium heat and reduce sauce by 1/3 for ~3 min. Cover and put in fridge. Note that the sauce will become thicker when it's chilled.

3. Wash and dry berries.
4. Plating: divide whipped mascarpone cheese among tumblers, add strawberries (3 each), drizzle balsamic sauce and top with blueberries (small handful each).