Strawberries, Mascarpone Cream and Crumbled Amaretti Cookies

This has been a long time fave of ours - it's an easy, crowd pleasing summer dessert you can whip up in minutes yet it gives the allusion you really know how to host a meal complete with a fancy dessert. It highlights strawberries best in our opinion but you can substitute other fruit - make sure to think of ones with good acid. Most of the prep can be done in advance and served effortlessly in minutes. 

6 servings

1/3cup Balsamic Vinegar

2tsp plus 4tbsp Sugar

1/2tsp Fresh Lemon Juice

1/2cup Chilled Mascarpone Cheese

1/2cup Chilled Whipping Cream

1/2tsp Vanilla Extract

5 or 6 crumbled Amaretti Cookies (or cookies of your choice)

3 1pt baskets (about 24oz) Strawberries

Combine balsamic vinegar, 2tsp sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan.  Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Boil until syrup is reduced to scant 1/4cup, about 5 or 5minutes. Cool completely. 

Combine mascarpone, cream, vanilla and 2tbsp of sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk until thick and soft peaks form. Cover and refrigerate for up to 4hours. Combine berries and 2tbsp sugar in large bowl; drizzle with balsamic syrup and toss to blend. If syrup has thickened too much adding it to the strawberries will help thin it out again. Let stand 30mins, stirring occasionally. 

Divide syrup and berries among 6 bowls and top with mascarpone mixture. Crumble cookies over the top of each dish. If you're feeling super decadent you could serve it with a tasty Moscato -  we recommend Saracco Moscato d'asti from the Piedmont region of Italy.