Move over hot fudge and butterscotch, we’re breaking the rules and giving you a run for your money. Sprinkles and whipped cream need not apply.

You must dare to try this unlikely combination of sweet and savory: a delicate drizzle of dark, tangy balsamic reduction with sweet, ripe, local strawberries mellowed by the cool, creamy, rich constant of vanilla ice cream and just the right jump from a few cracks of black pepper.

My instructor in culinary school called this concoction Heaven and Hell, and if I remember correctly, my classmates and I were all a little hesitant to try it.

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There is a wonderful Norwegain book that I read with my children about three sisters who go out to pick strawberries for their mother. The girls run, giggling, out into the meadow; a picnic basket swinging from one child’s arm, two large tin buckets for the berries swaying from the handles clenched by the hands of another.

If only life were that idyllic. Even though the berries are being picked for jam in this book, I can’t help but think of strawberry shortcake each time I read it. Maybe it’s the picnic basket with the red and white checkered cloth that invites the image to my head and elicits the memory of an old friend sharing this dessert each year at the peak of strawberry season.

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Strawberries and cream.

The words go together like… well, not like love and marriage. Those used to go together automatically. Now, not so much.

And not like peanut butter and jelly. Since peanuts are pretty much banned from elementary schools these days, it’s more like soynut spread and jelly.

Just doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it?

How about wine, women, and song? Sexist.

Halloween and candy? Dangerous.

Computers and crash? Sorry, IT…

Ah, here’s one we can all agree on: Night and day.  It works backwards, too: day and night.

But still, not nearly as compelling as those succulent strawberries and rich, smooth cream.

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If the sight of this special Valentine’s Day treat doesn’t make you swoon… what’s up with that?

Fresh strawberries. Dark chocolate. No cake, no mousse, no pie or pastry. Simply two elemental foods, stalwarts of the bake-o-sphere, brought together in one sublime treat. read the rest of this entry »