DECADENT…RICH…STUNNING 

I’m a huge Barefoot Contessa fan and for year’s I’ve wanted to make Ina’s Coeur a la Creme from Barefoot in Paris but I was afraid it would be too hard to reproduce this beautiful dessert. Luckily, I was wrong! This is probably one of the best desserts I have ever eaten and it was also one of the simplest to make. I think this is what I’ll be making for my birthday in the years to come. It truly tastes amazing and I hope you will try making this at home yourself.

It’s also the ultimate Valentines dessert, so WOW your significant other this year!

I thought I’d do a photo recipe first since this is such a neat dessert to make and then I’ll have the actual recipe listed out.

Tips:
*Allow cream cheese to come to room temperature. If not, your mold may not drain very well. I allowed mine to sit out for about 2 hours.
*This makes a lot but don’t be tempted to overfill the mold. You’ll want the cream to come to a flat top so you can maintain the heart shape once you invert it.
*You can find a heart shaped sieve and cheesecloth at your local cooking store. I got mine from Coastal Cupboard here in Mount Pleasant.

The ingredients are pretty simple…cream cheese, confectioner’s sugar, grated lemon zest, whole cream (just go for it and use the heavy full of calories stuff, some things you shouldn’t skimp on!), vanilla beans, and pure vanilla extract.

First off, you’ll want to scrape the vanilla bean so you’ll cut through one side of the bean, lengthwise. Then scrape with a spoon down the middle and sides.

Next, start mixing the cream cheese and confectioner’s sugar…and make sure you start on low speed before going faster.  I started out on high speed and oh, the mess I got to clean up!

After beating for two minutes, change out the paddle attachment for the whisk (I forgot to do this) and beat in all the remaining ingredients until it looks like really thick whipping cream. Delish!!

Now place your sieve dish onto a plate (to catch the drainage) and drape the cheesecloth over the sieve and plate. Pour the cream mixture into the sieve dish and level off so that you have a straight edge. Cover with the cheesecloth on top and refrigerate overnight.

And don’t worry if you’re thinking…how will I keep from eating it now? It makes a lot of cream so you’ll have plenty to taste even before it has set overnight! Trust me, there was a lot when I made it.

So the next day…you’ll make the raspberry sauce which is delightful all by itself.

You’ll combine raspberries (I used frozen instead of fresh and it turned out just fine), water, and sugar and then boil to reduce.

For the jam, I used a homemade berry jam instead of just raspberry jam. I think any jam or preserve that is a berry will work fine. You’ll combine the reduced berries, berry jam, and grand marnier together in a food processor. Also, it makes a lot of sauce. You could half this raspberry sauce and still have plenty for the dessert. Or you could just make the whole amount and drink what you don’t use. I’m not kidding…the sauce is really tasty!

Once the sauce is made, you can chill it or you can just go ahead and plate the dessert…who cares if it gets a little warmed from the sauce?

I was nervous to invert it, but it really came out fairly easy. Choose a plate with a curved lip so it will hold your sauce and after removing the cheesecloth on top, turn the mold over on top of the plate and slowly lift up. The creme will slide out and you’ll have a beautiful heart impression.

Now pour the sauce around the side, scatter some raspberries on top….and ENJOY!!!

Here is Ina’s Garten’s official recipe.

Coeur a la Creme with Raspberry and Grand Marnier Sauce
Copyright 2004, Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa in Paris Cookbook and Food Network

Ingredients

12 ozs cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 1/2 cups cold heavy cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean
Raspberry and Grand Marnier Sauce, recipe follows

Directions

Place the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on high speed for 2 minutes.  Scrape down the beater and bowl with a rubber spatula and change the beater for the whisk attachment.  With the mixer on low speed, add the heavy cream, vanilla, lemon zest, and vanilla bean seeds and beat on high speed until the mixture is very thick, like whipped cream,

Line a 7” sieve with cheesecloth so the ends drape over the sides and suspend it over a bowl, making sure that these 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.

To serve, discard the liquid, unmold the cream onto a plate, and drizzle Raspberry and Grand Marnier Sauce around the base.  Serve with raspberries and extra sauce.

For the Raspberry and Grand Marnier Sauce:

• 1 half-pint raspberries
• ½ c. sugar
• 1 c. seedless raspberry jam
• 2 T. orange-flavored liqueur

Place raspberries, sugar, and ¼ c. water in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 4 minutes.  Pour the cooked raspberries, the jam, and orange liqueur into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and process until smooth.  Chill.