Macarpone Stuffed Strawberries

Today was not only Kevin’s 26^th birthday, but was his best friend Joe’s birthday as well. And of course in birthday fashion, we had a party.  No birthday is complete without some type of celebration, right?

Joe’s wonderful parents very graciously invited us over for a good old fashioned pool party at their gorgeous new pool.  It was just like the  ones you remember as a kid with burgers, brats, cheesy potatoes, yummy dips, birthday cake, adult beverages…oh wait, those weren’t there as a kid! Ok, so it was more of a grown up pool party, but just as much fun as the ones I remember as a child.

Our wonderful hostess Mary Beth insisted on providing all of the food and libations for the day but I just couldn’t show up at their house empty handed.

Since we are so close the fourth of July, I wanted to do something a little fun and festive.  I made these mascarpone stuffed strawberries for my friend Angie’s bridal shower and they were a huge hit, so I thought I would add a little blueberry to create a red, white, and blue Holiday treat.

I added in a little pomegranate liqueur in this batch but I also sometimes use raspberry or orange; of course you can omit the liqueur if you’re serving to kiddos.

Cut tops off all the berries.

Slice 3/4 of the way down the middle.

Turn and do the same in the opposite direction.

Separate the four corners so the filling can easily be piped in.

In a bowl mix softened mascarpone and cream cheese.

Add in powdered sugar.

Add in liqueur;I used a pomegranate liqueur because that’s what I had on hand but normally I use Chambord. Cassis or Grand Marnier would also be delicious. This is definitely optional but makes the filling oh so good.

Fill a zip lock baggie or pasty bag with macarpone and cream cheese filling, snip the corner off so you can pipe into strawberries.

Pipe filling into strawberries, be sure to not overstuff.

Top with a blueberry. Cute!

Mascarpone stuffed strawberries

2 lbs strawberries

8 ounces mascarpone room temperature

½ cup cream cheese softened

2 tablespoons chambord liqueur (you can use any fruity liquor, cassis, pomegrante, or Grand Marnier would be great

3 1/2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Cut the tops off all the strawberries so they can stand straight up. Cut the tops horizontally and vertically with your knife on the bottom of the strawberry but DO NOT cut all the way down.  Separate the four sides. Combine the mascarpone,liqueur, and powdered sugar in bowl.  Place in pastry bag or zip lock baggie and cut off the end. Fill each strawberry with mascarpone. Top with a blueberry. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.