French in a Flash: Sweet Valentine's Coeur a la Creme with Strawberry Sauce Recipe

Coeur a la creme with strawberry sauce

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. I say cream and cream cheese make the heart grow creamier. Sugar makes the heart grow sweeter. Some people have funny valentines, but I have French ones, and this year, I am making my own francophone version of a bleeding heart:Coeur à la Crème with Strawberry Sauce.

I love French terms of endearment for their idiosyncratic charm: mon petit chou (my little cabbage), ma puce (my flea), mon tresor (my treasure), ma poupee (my doll), and ma vie (my life). And while I suppose I could have made cabbage for Valentine's Day, there is one title that we use en famille that I prefer, that is direct and true as love itself: mon coeur (my heart). And while my boyfriend did actually order calf's heart with chorizo as an appetizer last Valentine's Day, I thought it better to go with Coeur à la Crème.

Coeur à la Crème is a traditional dessert that is, conveniently enough, almost always shaped as a heart. It is basically drained dairy that is flavored and sweetened. The dairy varies from cream to cream cheese to crème fraîche to sour cream to yogurt. I use a combination of whipped cream and cream cheese, sweetened with sugar, peppered with vanilla seeds, and brightened with lemon zest. All around, as a light, pert complement to the thick and creamy heart, is a sea of deep red strawberry sauce.

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You will need to go out and by a Coeur à la Crèmemold, but if you don't mind it's not actually being shaped like a heart, you could use a sieve for a dome shape instead. But other than this purchase (it cost me under $10, and you'll use it again and again), all you have to do is whip a couple of ingredients together, slather it into the mold or sieve, and go to sleep, or rather to bed. ItisValentine's. When you wake up, it's ready. How many desserts can you make while otherwise engaged?

So don your beret, make like Pepe Le Peu, and whip a bit of Valentine's romance into your life. You can just spoon this up as it is, or dip little Petit Beurre biscuits in, or fresh berries.

This dessert reminds me of a little American term of endearment, to go along with all the French ones: Sweethearts. Bisous!

Recipe Facts

Prep:10 mins
Cook:15 mins
Chilling Time:8 hrs
Total:8 hrs 25 mins
Serves:4 servings

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  • 8盎司cream cheese, room temperature

  • 2cupsheavy cream, cold

  • 3/4cuppowdered sugar

  • 1vanilla bean, scraped of its seeds

  • 1teaspoonlemon zest

  • 1poundfrozen whole strawberries

  • 1/2cupwater

  • 1tablespoonlemon juice

  • 6tablespoonssugar

Directions

  1. Prepare the Coeur à la Crème mold by lining it with 2 paper towels. Use a pastry brush to lightly brush the bit of paper towel that touches the bottom of the mold with water. This will allow you nestle the paper into the shape of the heart more easily.

  2. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy—just about 1 minute. Add in the cream, and beat until just before the mixture looks like whipped cream. Add in the sugar, vanilla seeds, and lemon zest, and whip until the mixture does resemble whipped cream.

  3. Decant the cream cheese mixture into the paper towel-lined heart-shaped mold. Fold the excess paper towel over the top, and set the mold inside a shallow bowl to catch the liquid that will drain out. Chill in the fridge overnight.

  4. To make the sauce, put the strawberries, water, lemon juice, and sugar in a sauce pan on high heat, and simmer for 10 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved and the strawberries are soft.

  5. Use a immersion blender, or a regular blender, to puree the sauce. Strain it through a sieve, and cover. Chill until cold.

  6. Invert the creamy heart in a large, shallow bowl. Pour some strawberry sauce all around the outside, so the heart is floating in a pool of red sauce.

Special equipment

one large Coeur à la Crèmemold

Nutrition Facts(per serving)
797 Calories
63g Fat
56g Carbs
7g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories 797
% Daily Value*
Total Fat63g 80%
Saturated Fat 39g 194%
Cholesterol192mg 64%
Sodium215mg 9%
Total Carbohydrate56g 21%
Dietary Fiber 2g 9%
Total Sugars 50g
Protein7g
Vitamin C 49mg 243%
Calcium 154mg 12%
Iron 1mg 6%
Potassium 362mg 8%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)