Thursday, January 29, 2009

Heart Shaped French Creme Dessert with Red Berry Sauce is perfect for Valentine's Day


Coeur a la crème, a tasty and impressive heart shaped French cream dessert served with a red berry sauce, is easy to make for Valentine’s Day and can be prepared days in advance. Raspberries or strawberries are the traditional garnishes but chocolate shavings or molded chocolate roses also make a pretty presentation. 

Coeur a la crème is made in white porcelain molds with tiny holes in the bottom to allow the excess liquid in the sweetened cheese to run off as it chills. Molds are available in specialty kitchen stores or from Amazon. They come in two sizes, a seven inch that serves six and individual four inch molds. If you don’t have a mold, Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten suggests you make a round coeur in a seven inch sieve lined with cheesecloth and suspend it over a bowl to drain in the refrigerator. James Patterson in Glorious French Food makes individual round coeurs by molding the cheese in cheesecloth lined muffin tins, pulling the cheesecloth up over the tops of each and transferring the wrapped cheese to a cake rack to drain overnight in the refrigerator.


For our coeurs, we followed a recipe from Ina Gartin’s Barefoot in Paris cookbook with raspberry sauce. Ina says the recipe was inspired by friend Anna Pump from her Loaves & Fishes Cookbook. Anna flavored the sauce with Framboise, a French raspberry eau-de-vie, and suggested garnishing the coeur with either fresh hulled strawberries or strawberries dipped in chocolate. 

The coeur recipe is simple, includes only six ingredients and is quickly combined in the bowl of an electric mixer. The mixture goes into the heart shaped mold that has been lined with cheese cloth so the excess liquid can drain away. It can sit in the refrigerator for a day or so. To serve, unmold the cream on plate, drizzle with the berry sauce and garnish with fresh berries. Voila, as the French say. It can’t get much easier than that. I suggest sitting close to your valentine and sharing this special dessert with the one you love.

17 comments:

  1. This coeur a la creme looks delicious and definitely a perfect v-day dessert! Thanks so much for your comments on my blog. Natasha

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  2. A creamy delicious heart......you have done well!!!

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  3. Beautiful! I have two mini coeur a la creme molds, I use them to make savory coeurs for appetizers. I haven't tried making a sweet one yet.

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  4. I love that dish...I will have to try this indeed!

    Thanks for stopping by, that tuna melt is the best every...

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  5. Sam Thanks for your beautiful and delicious post. Your site is tops.

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  6. Thank you 5 Star Foodie, Nina, Sara, Chef E and Nancy for visiting my kitchen. Maybe we can talk Sara into sharing her recipe for the savory coeur.
    Sam

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  7. I wish I had the molds to try this dessert. Guess I'm going to have to go hunting for one. :)

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  8. I've seen some coeur a la creme before but never actually tried it. Yours looks beautiful. I love the colors.

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  9. Sam,

    This looks like a delicious dish. I love the colors. I enjoy your blog very much.

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  10. That looks delicious! Gorgeous photo!

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  11. Here it is!

    http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.fc77a0dbc44dd1611e3bf410b5900aa0/?vgnextoid=e120e788eba71110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&lnc=c10ed9e51c2ee010VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD

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  12. Sam - Just found your great blog. I am blogging from Lake Lure. Coincidently we used to bare boat charter sail boats in the Abacos. Loved Green Turtle Cay and the Conch House ( was that the name of the restarant there?). It's been awhile.

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  13. Dragon - the coeur molds are easy to find on the internet and Amazon also stocks them.

    Nicole & Brenda Kay - thanks for stopping by my kitchen and for your nice comments.

    Blonde Duck - welcome to my kitchen. I hope you'll visit again soon.

    Sara - thanks for the link to Martha Stewart's savory coeur with Parmesan cheese. Do you ever put herbs or anything in it?

    Penny - hello Carolina neighbor. Always great to hear from someone who loves Abaco as well. We went to Junkanoo on a special ferry on New Years Day to Green Turtle Cay many years ago. Don't remember the restaurant but their Junkanoo is probably the best in Abaco. Your new kitchen is to die for.

    Sam

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  14. Looks really yummy :) I'm going to have to get crackin' on some Valentine's desserts...mmm, I can't wait!!!

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  15. That's so pretty! I've just discovered the joys of Ina through a cookbook I received for Christmas. (Her Family Style cookbook) I used to read her column in Martha and I remember really liking her. This is my first time on your blog. I'm glad to have found you!

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  16. How festive, looks good! I hope your pizza dough turned out well!

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  17. I did Ina's Coeur a la Creme earlier this year, but I made my own heart-shaped mold because I'm not fond of the shape the traditional French Porcelain molds make. If you're interested, feel free to visit my post.

    http://butteryum.blogspot.com/2010/02/coeur-la-creme-ooh-la-la.html

    :)
    ButterYum

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