Thursday, July 31, 2008

Coeur a la Creme ~ Barefoot Contessa Style

Coeur means "heart" in French, hence the heart mold for this creamy dessert. The molds have holes in the bottom for draining excess liquid, and should be used with cheesecloth to contain the cream cheese.

Barefoot Bloggers have gotten together one extra Thursday to do this special dessert chosen by Becke of Columbus Foodie and huge hugs should go out to her! This experience is a first for me. The combination of tart, bright red raspberries draped over a creamy, heart shaped mold of vanilla and seeds, cream cheese, lemon zest, and confectioner's sugar. . .You Shouldn't Have?!!!! BUT I am REALLY glad that you did! My heavy cream was dreamy, thick, and rich. So thick that my attempt made almost double what Ina said it would make. This leads me to disclose a little secret. . .never order heart shaped glass molds late in the evening on the internet. I thought I ordered (1) ~ 2 c. capacity heart and 1 small heart. I also ordered a cookbook by Dorie Greenspan so I didn't really focus on the bottom dollar amount that night. The next morning, I kept having this strange nagging feeling that something was awry. I couldn't put my finger on it. Then I started thinking about how much my order with Amazon was. It couldn't have been around $50.? Could it? What the heck did I order? I get home that evening and log onto the computer, check my order with Amazon and Yep. The order was a little over $50. You see, I accidently ordered 2 of each size. How I did this I still do not know. After mixing my ingredients together, I was glad I had extra molds. The recipe filled 1 large heart and 2 small ones with about 1/2 cup left over.


Even though hubby doesn't like raspberries, I do. So the big heart is mine to share with fellow raspberry lovers! He gets the two individual hearts covered in Dove milk chocolate. I think he feels pretty special that he is getting his own individual desserts.

The recipe can be found at the Food Network Site so just click on Coeur a la Creme with Raspberry and Grand Marnier Sauce.



I really loved how the raspberry sauce turned out but I couldn't taste the Grand Marnier. Maybe I should have added a little extra?





The red color from the raspberries really sets off the creamy white with vanilla seed specks. I used Lindt white chocolate to help decorate with.



When the ingredients have been mixed together, part of the directions say to: Line a 7-inch sieve with cheesecloth or paper towels so the ends drape over the sides and suspend it over a bowl, making sure that there is space between the bottom of the sieve and the bottom of the bowl for the liquid to drain. Pour the cream mixture into the cheesecloth, fold the ends over the top, and refrigerate overnight.
A lot of us used the heart molds.







Are the raspberries not just beautiful? I had a hard time keeping my fingers out of them.






After doing a Daring Baker challenge, unmolding something easy was a nice refreshment. These were kind of fun to peel the cheesecloth off.






I finished these little molds up on a table between the kitchen and living room. . .the lighting sucks and I had a flash. What a way to finish off, huh?