I have had my eye on a new cooking group for a while, I heart cooking clubs (IHCC). This group features 12 chefs. Two of the chefs that I have cookbooks for are Giada de Laurentiis and Yotam Ottolenghi. I thought I would jump in this month with their current cooking challenge, Mystery Box Madness Challenge. For this challenge I selected Marinated Strawberries over Pound Cake by Giada de Laurentiis using the mystery box ingredients of strawberries, vinegar and vanilla.
To make this extra special I made my own pound cake, it came out perfect. The strawberries are cut and macerated in balsamic vinegar and a little sugar for 20 minutes. I made my own whipped cream which included vanilla. It was a delicious dessert. I was worried my 11 year old son would think the balsamic vinegar was weird but he didn’t even notice. The recipe got thumbs up around and I would make it again. This recipe can be found in Everyday Italian by Giada de Laurentiis (page 228). Looking forward to participating in the group.
CafeMomCooks 
Hi Diane,Welcome to IHCC! Hope you enjoy cooking up a storm with all of us! See you again this coming week with Chef Jacques Pepin's recipes. :)Joycewww.joycescapade.com
LikeLike
It's so nice to see you here at IHCC Diane. And what a delicious dessert you've made – the perfect use of those mystery box ingredients. I have that book as well and I've always liked how Giada adds those small but very effective Italian touches to her recipes.
LikeLike
So excited to welcome you to IHCC! We love meeting new people:) Please know that we are a laid back cooking club. Feel free to join in as much, or as little, as time allows. Saying that, Giada is one of my personal favorites! She has such wonderful family friendly recipes. This recipe is a perfect example of that. Your pound cake looks heavenly with those delicious berries and fresh whipped cream. Wish I had a slice right now.
LikeLike
Diana, welcome to IHCC!! We enjoy having you just as much as you love to join us :)I love your vanilla pound cake with strawberries. Perfect combination!! I love Giada's touch of using balsamic vinegar in the cake 🙂
LikeLike
Hi Diane,Welcome to IHCC! Your pound cake looks wonderful, and having it with the macerated strawberries and cream sounds really delicious!So nice to have you stopping by my blog!Looking forward to your posts in IHCC!
LikeLike
Well done and welcome! This looks great and am glad we are connected through the May 2015: Mystery Box Madness Challenge! re IHCC!
LikeLike
Strawberries macerated in Balsamic vinegar has got to be one of most delicious things. You've gone the extra mile by making the pound cake. Good job!
LikeLike