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Coeur à la Crème Fraîche

Posted by Robin Bellinger, May 21, 2008 at 2:15 PM

- serves 4 to 6 -
Adapted from Entertaining by Martha Stewart.

This delicious dessert reminds me of an unbaked cheesecake. If you don’t have coeur à la crème molds, you might try spooning the mixture into a strainer lined with cheesecloth and setting the strainer over a bowl overnight. To serve, unmold as a dome or simply scoop out individual portions. I modified this recipe a lot, making the cheese mixture much sweeter and the strawberry sauce much less sweet, and these are my measurements below. The vanilla in the cheese mixture is also my addition. However sweet you decide to make the cheese mixture, it really does need the fruit sauce—the combination is much more delicious than the individual parts. This was good, but I must admit that I like Ina Garten’s recipe better.

Ingredients

3/4 pound cottage cheese
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup crème fraîche or sour cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar, divided
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
Seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean
1 pound strawberries, hulled
1 small container raspberries

Procedure

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer (I used a handheld mixer), combine the cottage cheese, cream cheese, and crème fraîche. Beat until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar. Whip the cream and fold it into the cheese mixture along with the vanilla and vanilla seeds.

2. Line a 3-cup heart mold with cheesecloth, letting the cloth hang over the edges. Spoon the mixture into the lined mold; fold the cheesecloth over the top and put the mold on a tray in the refrigerator overnight.

3. To make the strawberry sauce, mash the strawberries and raspberries. Cook over low flame with the remaining 6 tablespoons sugar until soft. Press through a fine sieve and chill. (I chose to leave the berries unsieved so they would have some texture).

4. To serve, unfold cheesecloth and invert mold on a serving plate. Remove the cheesecloth. Garnish with strawberries and pour some sauce all around. Serve additional sauce in a bowl or pitcher.

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Tags: cheese, cream cheese, desserts, Entertaining, Martha Stewart