Ever stumble upon something that everyone else seems to know about or has tried, but for you it’s a brand new oh-my-gosh discovery, and then you feel like an idiot, because, where have you been? For me, that something was the combination of fresh strawberries, sugar and balsamic vinegar. I’ve certainly heard rumblings about it (check out some of the links at the end of this recipe), but the idea of adding any kind of vinegar to strawberries just didn’t seem right. How wonderful to be oh-so-wrong. Of course you do need to use balsamic vinegar, an aged, deeply flavored, somewhat sweet vinegar; an ordinary vinegar probably won’t taste that good; if that’s all you have use some grated lemon zest and a little lemon juice instead. The mousse is extremely easy to make – folded together whipped cream, mascarpone and ricotta cheeses. This recipe is based on one from our local Sacramento food celebrity chef, Biba Caggiano, and is a great mostly make-ahead recipe for summer entertaining.

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