A Dessert After Her Own Heart

I’ve been in love with the traditional French dessert coeur a la creme ever since I saw the luscious “heart of cheese” on the cover of a food magazine. I’m sure it was a February, for what could represent Valentine’s Day better than a snow-white heart-shaped dessert imprinted with the woof and warp of lacy cheesecloth and surrounded by a pool of vermilion berry sauce? Made of cream cheese and heavy cream, it tasted sweet as a new romance.

Many years later, on our 25th anniversary, my husband, Ralph, and I sampled a variation more evocative of a seasoned relationship. In an attempt to recapture our youth, we had decided to celebrate with a two-week drive to the Pacific Northwest. Our friends thought we were crazy. After a quarter-century, was there anything left for us to talk about during all those hours in the car?

But unlike Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney in “Two for the Road,” our old-married silences were comfortable as we gazed spellbound at the passing scenery. Unencumbered by quotidian concerns of finance and kids, our conversations blossomed.

Not that we didn’t have our moments. Like the day I had a headache driving through Washington and Ralph insisted on practicing his two-fingered whistle, huffing like a foghorn as he perfected this important life skill. Or the time he reached over from the passenger seat and honked the horn at another driver, something every woman knows she could never do if her husband was behind the wheel. And then there was the “quick” lunch stop at a roadside stand, where I ordered a whole Dungeness crab and took a painstaking hour to pick it clean.

Exasperation never lasted long, though. North of Eureka, Calif., we stumbled upon a delicious new take on coeur a la creme. A cafe on the outskirts of remote Trinidad, population 360, served individual coeurs made of a sophisticated blend of lightly sweetened local goat cheese and cream. They were chilled in perforated molds so that the whey drained away, leaving the heart of the matter, so to speak. Each coeur rested on a thin base of bittersweet chocolate, garnished with a scatter of berries and berry sauce. Rich yet refreshing, satisfying but not overly sweet, it was a delicate balance of all its components.

As the days rolled by, it gradually dawned on me. That heart-shaped dessert echoed our own balancing act. It matched the feelings in my heart, rich with the years. And all the wiser. The tangy undertones of the goat cheese added depth and complexity--like the ups and downs in a long marriage.

When Ralph and I returned home, I created my own goat cheese version and served it to my book club. My girlfriends, also matrimonial veterans, loved it. No doubt they, too, understood the dessert’s profound symbolism.

So in a fit of sisterly responsibility, I next served this coeur a la creme--pure and elegant in its creamy whiteness but with that frisson of bittersweet and tart--at a bridal shower. The bride-to-be might as well know what she’s in for.

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Goat Cheese Coeur la Creme With Dark Chocolate, Berries and Raspberry Sauce

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Serves 12

Traditional heart-shaped perforated molds are available at cookware stores. A wide 1-quart sieve or a perforated pie tin may be substituted.

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Cheesecloth, cut into 16-inch square

11-ounce log goat cheese such as Montrachet, room temperature

3-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature

3 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 cup heavy cream

2 ounces bittersweet chocolate

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

2 cups fresh or frozen (unsweetened) raspberries

Juice of 1 orange

2 teaspoons kirsch

2 cups berries*

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Line 1-quart mold with cheesecloth, allowing ends to hang over mold.

Beat goat cheese, cream cheese and powdered sugar in electric mixer until light. Whip cream in separate bowl. Fold 1/4 whipped cream into cheese mixture to lighten, then fold in remainder. Pour mixture into mold and smooth top. Fold ends of cheesecloth over cheese mixture, cover with plastic wrap and place mold on pie plate to catch whey. Refrigerate 6 hours or overnight. Discard whey.

Melt chocolate in microwave or double boiler. Uncover top of chilled cheese and spread chocolate evenly over top, being careful not to overlap edge of mold. Work quickly, as chocolate will harden on cold cheese. Refrigerate until just before serving.

Dissolve sugar in water in small saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently, about 1 minute. Cool slightly. Puree sugar syrup and raspberries, juice and kirsch in blender. Strain through sieve. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

To unmold coeur a la creme, run knife along edge of mold, to depth of 1/2 inch. Invert onto large serving plate, remove mold and peel away cheesecloth. Pour a little sauce on plate and scatter berries on and around coeur a la creme. Pass additional sauce.

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Food stylist: Christine Anthony-Masterson