Memorial Day Strawberry Dessert: Year 3

I mentioned last week that every Memorial Day I make some kind of strawberry dessert for my mom's birthday. The first year I tackled my very first (and only) pie. The next year I made a somewhat simple and incredibly tasty summer strawberry cake. This year EASY was the name of the game. I guess that happens when you start planning a wedding, you figure out how to streamline everything else in life so you can get by with your sanity somewhat in tack.

{Strawberries}

I used Yummy Mummy's Balsamic Strawberry Crostata with Mascarpone Cream recipe, but made a few tweaks. I didn't use balsamic vinegar and instead used 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar and a squeeze (about a tablespoon) of fresh lemon juice. I used Trader Joe's pie dough and brused it with butter and sprinkled the whole thing with raw sugar before popping it in the oven. 

I also added about more strawberries than the Yummy Mummy recipe. She calls for about 2 cups and I pushed it to almost 3 cups. That may be where I went wrong. That or I didn't dry the strawberries enough after washing them. 

Because I ended up with a bleeding pie. There was A LOT of juice seeping out of that thing. Next time I'm going to add at least a teaspoon of corn starch to hopefully thicken up those juices. Oh, and I'll DRY the damn strawberries more throughly. 

After we tried to get this beautiful crostata out of its sticky puddle and failed, I was about ready to throw the whole thing away. But I licked my wounds, and my fingers, and decided not to. Mainly because my mom wouldn't let me. Good thing too, because it was truly delicious! The juicy-ness of this baby made it impossible to get off the parchment paper so we just cut the parchment around the crostata and then cut it up and served it! It wasn't the most glamourous presentation but the taste was there. I also made mascarpone whip cream to serve with it - which really elevated it to a whole 'nother level. Too bad I didn't get pics of the cream to elevate the photos to another level! You'll have to use your imagination. 

If you make this please leave a comment to let me know how it turns out for you!

On a side note: Memorial Day Weekend was extra special this year because it marked one year with our fur baby! Which means Penny turned 4 years old! When we got her the vet said she was anywhere from 2 to 3, but since she is so mellow we just couldn't believe she was as young as 2, so we decided she was 3 years old when we got her. 

Isn't she such a cutie? Happy birthday Penny Monkey!

{thoughtful}

Peace, love, holiday weekends, and happiness!