dolce vita

One of the best parts of throwing a party is in the planning. I get a certain thrill when all the components begin to come together. From the menu to the seating chart, it’s a culinary “words with friends”.

I knew I wanted to do something a little different for a business dinner my husband and I were hosting. The challenge was creating something sophisticated yet healthy. To up the stakes I settled on an Italian menu done in four courses for my table of twelve.

For me one of my perennial stumbling blocks is dessert. With most parties one of the guests almost always offers to bring something and I invariably say that dessert would be lovely. But a professional evening is different. Here I’m left to my own devices.

Healthy…Italian…Dessert. I’d hit a wall. Then when I was visiting my father someone brought an incredible dessert to a little dinner we were having at his house. It was mélange of berries tossed with lemon liqueur and served with something blissfully close to a zabaione sauce.

I knew I had to have the recipe for my upcoming board dinner. What took me by surprise was how health conscious the ingredients were and, ready for this, it’s an absolute breeze to make.

Here is the key to macerated berries with lemon curd sauce.

For the sauce start with thick Greek yogurt.

And a high-quality bottled lemon curd.

Whisk together a cup of yogurt, one-third cup lemon curd, a tablespoon of honey, and a quarter teaspoon of vanilla.

This can be made a day ahead of time. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Rinse and carefully pat dry one pint of strawberries and one cup each of blueberries and strawberries. Hull and slice the strawberries. Layer all the berries in a bowl. This can be done earlier in the day. Cover and refrigerate.

Before serving carefully toss together the berries with the two tablespoons of sugar and three tablespoons of limoncello. Let stand at room temperature for about 15 minutes so the berries can macerate with the sugar and liqueur.

To serve place a generous spoonful of berries on a plate or in a bowl, top with a dollop of lemon curd sauce. Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint.

Life is sweet with an ending like this!