Vodka Strawberry Caprese

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Gluten-Free/Dairy-Free/Nut-Free/Vegan

Skill Level: Beginner

Yield: 1 cocktail

Prep Time: 20 minutes (if making the strawberry basil syrup, if not your prep time will be shorter)

Cook Time: 5 minutes (for the strawberry basil syrup)

Equipment Needed:

• Small saucepan

• Small whisk

• Cutting board

• Chef's knife

• Fine mesh strainer

• 1/2 pint mason jar or covered container (to store syrup)

• Shot glass measure/Jigger

• Muddler (see note below if you don't have one)

• Pint glass

• Cocktail shaker

• 10-oz rocks glass

The Recipe:

Ingredients:

For the strawberry basil syrup (makes about 3/4 cup syrup):

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 1/2 cup water

• 1/2 cup fresh strawberries, hulled

• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped

For the cocktaiI:

• 1/4 cup fresh strawberries

• 4-6 fresh basil leaves

• 1/2 ounce strawberry basil syrup

• Pinch of salt

• 2 ounces vodka

• 1/2 ounce balsamic vinegar

• Strawberry fan and basil sprig, for garnishing (optional)

Procedure:

1. Make the strawberry basil syrup by combining sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar is completely dissolved (3-5 minutes). Do NOT let the syrup come to a simmer or boil, if it starts to bubble turn down your heat. Once sugar is fully dissolved, remove pan from heat and add hulled strawberries and chopped basil. Use a fork or potato masher to GENTLY mash down on the berries 2-3 times. Let mixture steep for 15 minutes, then strain through a fine mesh strainer into a 1/2 pint mason jar or glass container for storage. Store in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks (if you notice any mold, discard immediately).

2. Add strawberries, basil leaves, pinch of salt and strawberry basil syrup to a pint glass. Use a muddler to mash everything together. The strawberries will release a lot of juice, so you will end up with quite a bit of liquid in the glass.

3. Add a scoop of ice to your cocktail shaker. To the shaker, add the vodka and balsamic vinegar. Empty the contents of the pint glass into the shaker.

4. Shake vigorously a minimum of 15-20 shakes.

5. Strain into a 10-ounce rocks glass filled with fresh ice.

To Serve: Garnish with a strawberry fan and sprig of fresh basil. I think this cocktail would be PHENOMENAL sipped alongside a cheese platter.

Adjusting for your diet: If you don't drink alcohol, simply omit the vodka. I would add a splash of club soda at the end, and I think you'd have quite the mocktail.

Tips:

• Although I always list cocktail garnishes as "optional," in my humble opinion they should be there. There is an awesome book I use as a resource called The Flavor Bible, and in the first chapter it talks about how aroma is responsible for as much as 80% or more of flavor. I think taking a drink of a flavorful cocktail and inhaling the aroma of a sprig of herb or a twist of citrus really does enhance the overall experience.

• The strawberry fan is an easy but impressive garnish. To make, use a paring knife to make 4 vertical slices up towards the stem of the berry, without going all the way through it. Gently fan out the berry.

• If you don't already have a muddler, don't buy one (unless you think you're going to get really into mixology, in which case I fully support you). You can use the handle-end of a wooden spoon as your muddler, or if you happen to own a French-style rolling pin, this would work great, too.

• If you're not up for making the strawberry basil syrup, you could substitute regular simple syrup, agave nectar or omit sweeteners all together. If you go that route, you might consider adding a couple extra strawberries.

• You may have noticed that in my photo, I used a purple variety of basil. This was solely because that plant needed more pruning than my green sweet basil plant, although I did end up appreciating the extra interest that beautiful purple basil added.

• If you are at all wary about the balsamic vinegar, start smaller by just adding a teaspoon, and go from there. However, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised :)

• The next time I make these, I am going to make sure I have mini mozzarella balls in the fridge. I think doing a toothpick skewer of 2-3 of those would be so divine as a garnish for this cocktail!

The Story:

I went strawberry picking with my mom and the two bigger kids this week! It's a fun tradition we do every year.

So red, and so beautiful!! The taste of a fresh-picked berry is second to none.

Most years we pick under 10 pounds, but this year my daughter was super determined to pick 8 of the "kid sized" boxes all on her own, so with her working on that and me and my son picking as well...we ended up picking just over 15 pounds. Good gravy, that's a lot of berries. Now you have to picture me cracking my knuckles, getting out my little notebook and saying "welp, let's get to work!"

Our haul!

I had a few ideas going into our picking day, but obviously with this haul I had to come up with a few more. I started to think about cocktail possibilities among my other ideas. I referenced strawberries in my Flavor Bible (one of my favorite books, linked in the tips) and saw that balsamic vinegar was listed in the flavor affinities section. Gears in my head started spinning, and I think I may have even said out loud, balsamic in a cocktail...is this a thing?

I took this photo during round 1 of taste trials; as you can see I did use the green variety of sweet basil in this one.

A quick Internet search told me that others had dabbled with this idea of using vinegars in cocktails, so I thought, why not? I adore caprese (simple Italian salad mad of tomato, fresh mozzarella, basil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper), so basil seemed like an obvious choice to add in as well. My first night of trials with this one were really eye opening in terms of flavor; I absolutely love balsamic vinegar, so adding it to a cocktail and having it work out felt like winning the lottery. I used a full ounce of balsamic in my first two drafts, and while I enjoyed the intense balsamic vinegar taste, I figured it might be a bit aggressive for some. I decided to table it for a day or two so I could ponder a bit more.

Red and green are complementary colors, meaning they are across from each other on the color wheel, which is why they work so well together in many compositions.

The next day I decided to use more of my berries to make a strawberry simple syrup. As I was straining it, I had a stroke of genius: what if I added an herb, like rosemary, to further add to the flavor of the syrup as well as make it more complex? Shortly thereafter, I had an even bigger stroke of genius: what if I made a whole bunch of those, with different herbs?

Strawberries and basil, steeping in the simple syrup.

The rest of the day I went into what I can only describe as mad-scientist-mode, clipping different herbs from the deck, hulling strawberries, setting timers, and taking notes. I had a few fails, but my top 3 flavor combos were strawberry-tarragon, strawberry-rosemary, and strawberry-basil. Like snapping in the final piece of a jigsaw puzzle, I knew the perfect spot for the strawberry basil syrup I had created.

The color on these syrups is sooo dreamy.

For my final version, I cut the balsamic in half and added the strawberry basil syrup. Vodka is the perfect spirit for this cocktail because it's flavorless, letting all of the crazy flavors I added shine. Sweetness from the strawberries, tartness and acidity from the vinegar, herbaceous complexity from the basil...this cocktail has got it going ON. As I mentioned in the recipe, I think this would be such a stunner to serve next to a lovely cheese board on a warm summer afternoon, and if I had mini mozzarella balls I would surely pop them on a toothpick and rest it on top of this cocktail to nibble on as I sipped.

I can't wait to use my strawberry syrup creations in other places; a few ideas I had were in lemonade and club soda. I'd love to hear any ideas you might have!

Those su-u-mer....niiiiiiiigggghhhhttttsss.....

Cheers!