This week, I went to Quantum Theatre’s production of Cymbeline, a Shakespeare play I had never heard of. It was quite the enjoyable evening. The relation to this blog, however, is that they had an interactive portion of the performance, whereby they sent text messages to my phone with questions to answer. I shared the questions with my companions, and we sent back answers. One of the questions was “What’s worth fighting for?”
he backstory: My office-mate and I had been left along with about 50 mini-cupcakes from Dozen all day long. (Only about 30 cupcakes survived the ordeal.) We were mildly euphoric from all the sugar, and could speak of little but cupcakes to our male companions over dinner, prompting more than a little eye-rolling (a.k.a. jealousy). So the cupcake response fit the evening, but let’s face it: it’s also the truth.
Case in point: if you take too few of these cupcakes to a party, fights could very well break out. These beauties combine two of my favorite ideas, cake and the tangy, assertive blend of ripe summer strawberries and sweet balsamic vinegar. I don’t think there’s any better way to bring out the flavor of the berry than this particular combination, and these cupcakes – which I found a few months ago thanks to the recently
The syrup that you make for this recipe has a myriad of other uses, including one I’ll share in part two of this post (look for that in a few days). It’s crimson, scarlet, claret-bright, and as beautiful as it is delicious. Mix a tablespoon or two with some extra balsamic and olive oil, and you have a smashing salad dressing. Drizzle it over ice cream.