Strawberry Mountains & Cream Cheese Clouds

A Fresh Idea for Strawberries

Strawberries are often the first fruit we low carbers add back into our daily eating plan and what a great choice they are. Fiber, vitamin C, potassium and even calcium are found in this little powerhouse of a food.

Whether you like your strawberries with whipped cream, over cheesecake or blended into a morning smoothie, they are probably a staple in your low glycemic household. But, as wonderful as all these options are, what else can a hungry low carber do with these declicious ruby jewels? Plenty.

The following recipe may sound a little strange to some of you as you may have never seen balsamic vinegar used in a dessert. Let me assure you, once you’ve tried it, you’ll be hooked!

This dessert requires a balsamic glaze (which you make yourself) and I have included the instructions for that at the end of this recipe. Don’t worry, it’s VERY EASY to do.

Strawberry Mountains & Cream Cheese Clouds

• 6 extra large strawberries (as red and juicy as you can find)
• 1 8 oz tub whipped cream cheese at room temperature (you’ll have leftover)
• Balsamic glaze (see instructions below)
• Sweetener to taste (I use a liquid concentrate for zero added carbs)

Thoroughly wash and dry your strawberries and trim off the tops to create a flat surface. Set aside.

Sweeten the cream cheese to your liking. Make it fairly sweet to provide balance to the tartness of the strawberries and balsamic glaze. Fill a quart size Ziplock bag with your cream cheese mixture. The easiest way to fill the bag is turn it inside out and place your hand inside as if it were a glove, then “scoop up” the cream cheese with your hand and bring up the sides of the bag to turn it right side out again.

Snip a hole in the corner of the bag (about ½-inch) and twist the open end to force the mixture through the hole. Create 3 large blobs of cream cheese in the center of your plate.

Place one strawberry on each mound of cream cheese and press down to form a “cloud” under each berry. Add a small dollop of cream cheese to the top of each berry and then drizzle your balsamic glaze in a festive pattern. This is the fun part, be creative! You can draw a happy face or a heart or someone’s name. If your glaze is thick and won’t move very well, nuke it for a few seconds to get better flow.

Garnish with toasted almonds, pecans, mint, fresh flowers, etc. 

Each serving (of 3 large berries with cream cheese and glaze) totals 12 carbs - 2 fibers equaling an ECC of 10 grams. If you add a lot of nuts, extra cream cheese, whipped cream, etc. be sure to add in the extra carbs. 

Balsamic Glaze

• 1 bottle balsamic vinegar
• 1 pan
• 1 squeeze bottle

Pour entire bottle of vinegar into pan and simmer on medium-low until it reduces by 2/3. This will take approx. one hour but keep an eye on it so it doesn’t reduce too far. How easy is that? Once reduced, thickened and slightly cooled, pour into a squeeze bottle! This glaze will have 6 carbs per tablespoon but it is OH SO WORTH IT.

This glaze also adds a nice flavor component drizzled over salads, tomatoes & mozzarella, vanilla ice cream, and scallops sauted in butter and garlic.

Here’s how thick it should be when you’re finished. Think in terms of honey for the "room temperature" viscosity.

One last point, the better the balsamic you start with, the better your glaze will be. I’ve tried this glaze with many different brands but they were all a little lacking due to the fact that they were only aged for a year or two. This is the best one so far… 

Readily available at Trader Joe’s for only $4 and it’s been aged for 10 years so it has a more developed flavor than many other brands. Once concentrated into the glaze, the intensitiy of the flavor is amazing and very similar to the very expensive extra vecchio, 100 year aged balsamics from Italy. This technique will get you very close but only cost $4.

Bon Apetit!