Vanilla Mascarpone Cream Hearts with Raspberries and Blackberries

27 June 2005

I had been wanting to try this recipe for some time since I first saw the cute heart-shaped dessert in Christine Manfield’s Desserts – and I had forgotten about it because I couldn’t find the moulds anywhere with holes in the base. Luckily I finally found them at my local kitchen shop and so I could try it at last.

I believe this is a variation of a traditional French dessert cremet d’Anjou from the Loire region – which is normally made with fromage frais and meringue. I’ve had this airy dessert when I was in Japan, it’s been popular there for a long time.

In this recipe, she uses mascarpone cheese, but until I started reading the recipe properly I didn’t realise you actually make the mascarpone yourself! It takes a whole day to make this (the draining process is the point of this dessert) and after that you add cream cheese, double cream and yoghurt then drain again.

I’m not 100% sure if I did all the processes right, but the finished cream was just delicious. I actually prefer this to the original cremet d’Anjou – as it doesn’t have meringue, the texture is firmer and the flavour is more concentrated. I used lemon juice instead of citric acid (as I didn’t know what it was exactly) but it turned out fine.

You can make this with any mould of course, as long as you drain through muslin. I used raspberries and blackberries this time, but I’m sure it goes well with any fruit. This is going to be a regular dessert for me, I’m sure.
 


 

Serve 6

150g Vanilla Mascarpone
100g cream cheese
125g castor sugar
250ml thick (45 per cent) cream
125g thick plain yoghurt
250g fresh raspberries
250g fresh blackberries
6 tablespoons Raspberry Sauce

Chill the bowl and blade of a food processor in the refrigerator.

To make the cream hearts, blend the mascarpone, cream cheese and castor sugar in the food processor until smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a plastic spatula occasionally to keep the mixture evenly distributed. Add the cream and yoghurt and blend briefly to incorporate.

Line 6 porcelain heart moulds with a double layer of wet muslin and carefully spoon in the cream mixture until the moulds are full and the surface is even. Put the moulds on a tray with a lip (to catch the whey), then cover with plastic film and refrigerate for at least 8 hours before serving.

To serve, arrange the raspberries and blackberries in the centre of each serving plate and spoon the raspberry sauce over the berries. Lift the cream hearts out of their moulds using the muslin, then invert each heart onto the berries and carefully remove the muslin.
 

Vanilla Mascarpone

Makes 700g

2 limes
1 litre pouring (35 per cent) cream
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1 scant teaspoon citric acid

Zest and juice the limes.

Bring the lime zest, cream and vanilla bean to a vigorous boil in a deep stainless steel saucepan. Boil for 5 minutes until the cream separates.

Add the lime juice and citric acid to the cream mixture and bring it back to a boil. Simmer for 1 minute, then remove from the heat. Pour the cream through a fine-meshed sieve or muslin into a bowl. Put the bowl into the refrigerator until the mixture starts to set, about 5 hours.

Line a conical sieve with a double layer of wet muslin and position it over a 2 litre plastic container. Pour the set cream into the sieve, then cover with plastic film and let it stand for 24 hours in the refrigerator to allow the whey to separate from the curd.

Discard the whey and scoop the mascarpone from the sieve into a plastic container, then seal and refrigerate until ready to use. The vanilla mascarpone will keep, refrigerated, for a week.
 

Raspberry Sauce

Makes 300ml

500g raspberries
100ml Sugar Syrup
25mll strained fresh lemon juice

Make the sugar syrup – use equal amounts (kg/litre) of sugar and water and simmer for about 15 minutes. Allow to cool.

Puree the raspberries, with the sugar syrup and lemon juice in a food processor or blender. Pass the puree through a fine-meshed sieve and discard the seeds.
 

Food - Sweet        25 comments    Permalink

  • pretty, pretty pretty!

    I didn’t know you can make mascarpone at home... it may be worth a try, especially here in Japan where mascarpone is ridiculously overpriced. thanks for the info!

    Posted by chika | 28 June 2005 #

  • Wow! Am so impressed with your culinary expertise once again. Your photos are always mouth watering and this particular dessert is something I wanna try to do myself. Thanks for sharing it over the net!

    Posted by | 28 June 2005 #

  • Keiko, I’m not going to say I’m impressed because now I expect to be impressed with your posts. I had no idea how you made mascarpone before, but now I am eager to try my hand at it. Beautiful.

    Posted by Nic | 28 June 2005 #

  • I know I would never have the patience to make mascarpone myself. I am impressed. Beautiful moulds too.

    Posted by Aun | 28 June 2005 #

  • Hi Keiko,

    Wow! Another beautiful photo! I’m sure this was so delicious as well. I’m so impressed that you made the mascarpone yourself. I would have never done it even though it’s very costly and hard to find here. Thank you so much for sharing. =)

    Posted by Reid | 28 June 2005 #

  • hi keiko, utterly beautiful pictures and inspirational recipe, as always. looks perfect for a valentine’s dinner...re:nancy silverton. never had pleasure of visiting her bakery but a kind friend brought me some of her canneles bordelais once and they were exquisite...

    Posted by Joycelyn | 28 June 2005 #

  • You are an artist my dear! Another amazing post!

    Posted by Melissa | 28 June 2005 #

  • Keiko, when I finally move into my house (and hopefully by the end of the year!), I will have to email you to request a list of moulds that you have. Heart-shaped with holes??? Wow! And making your own mascarpone is the best part....you go girl!

    Posted by rowena | 29 June 2005 #

  • My mom used to make something similar when I was little--it was called a "coeur a la creme," and it was *outrageously* delicious. She’d serve it with a raspberry coulis to cut the dairy richness, just as you do. Thanks for reminding me of it--and with a recipe, to boot!

    Posted by Molly | 30 June 2005 #

  • Hi,
    the picture is beautiful and it sounds absolutely delicious. I absolutely love mascarpone cheese flavoured with vanilla. Im impressed that you were able to find the molds. If I had seen them in a store I would have been very perplexed about the holes!

    Posted by Michele | 30 June 2005 #

  • Hi Keiko- I think I also saw a similar dessert like the one you made on the food network. I saw it on the show of Gale Gand’s Sweet Dreams and the dessert is called Coeur A la Creme, which is also made with different types of cheeses and served with berry too. Regarding the citric acid I think you can try check out the book by Bo Friberg which has the information you need I believe. By the way your dessert look so lovely and the shape is so beautiful and perfect for Valentine as well. I try to get back to you once I check with my friend regarding the citric acid.

    Posted by Cathy | 30 June 2005 #

  • you can buy citric acid (and ascorbic acid) in any pharmacy, even some supermarkets sell it

    Posted by hanajana | 30 June 2005 #

  • Beautiful!!

    Posted by obachan | 3 July 2005 #

  • Hi! keiko

    great picture! as always......as I look through this recipe I’m wondering what 35 % or 45% cream is and how would I know the portion of how the cream works???? That’s all the question I have for you.

    thanks

    Posted by Shanna | 6 July 2005 #

  • Hi Keiko- As I promise here is the complete information regarding citric acid and tartaric acid. Citric acid is a water soluble acid extracted from juice of citrus fruits lemons, limes, grapefruit as well as other acid fruits such as pineapple. It can also be produced by fermentation of glucose. It is solid in both dry crystal form (as a white powder) and in liquid form. It is added to sugar syrup to prevent crystallization. With its strong tart taste, it is also used to add flavoring to foods and beverages and to produce jams, jellies, and cordials. Additionally it can be used as for food addictive acting as PH control agent, preservative, or antioxidant in processed and canned foods. Tartaric acid is a natural constituent in most fruits, but the commercial product is extracted from grapes. Despite the somewhat poisonous sounding name, it is used for a number of purpose in cooking. Cream of tartar is made from it, and it is use to acidulate baking powder and ammonium carbonate. when used in sorbets and fruit desserts it augments the fruit flavor. It can be used whenever acidulated water or citric acid is called for (providing that the citrus acid is not necessary addition) Tartaric Acid is not available in grocery stores but can be purchased or ordered from a drug store in a granular form, it is quite inexpensive and last a very long time. It can also act as catalyst for pectin glaze. To make a mascarpone cheese: Use 2 quarts heavy cream combined with 1 tsp. tartaric acid solution. Tartaric acid solution ( 1/2 cup hot water with 4 oz. tartaric acid) I heard from a chef that you can also use cream of tartar to make mascarpone but I don’t know the proportion. All the information that I have posted is from the book of Bo Friberg.

    Posted by Cathy | 9 July 2005 #

  • Very nice dessert! I haven’t made mascarpone myself before! I saw your comment on my account and made one in return, but it’s hard to know if your comments have been viewed. If you ever want to e-mail me directly use anitaachu@gmail.com.

    Posted by Anita | 10 July 2005 #

  • Hi there, sorry for the late response.

    Chika - well, I didn’t know either but it was worth a try ;) I know how expensive it is in Japan, I had to think twice every time I made tiramisu!

    Anonymous - thank you for your note, I hope you’ll enjoy it!

    Nic - it wasn’t difficult, but it was hard to wait for so long especially as I’m not very patient!

    Aun - I’m sure you are a bit more patient than me...

    Reid - thank you for your kind note as always. I must say that it didn’t quite taste like the ones you buy at a shop, but it was tasty nontheless so it’s worth a try.

    Joycelyn - thank you, yes I thought about making this for valentine’s day, but sadly, Matthew doesn’t like it at all. I’d love to visit her shop one day, it must be a wonderful place.

    Melissa - thanks!

    Rowena - I’m sure you can find the mould in Italy, and you don’t need make mascarpone - you can get so many good ones there, I’m jealous...

    Molly - thank you for your note, it reminded me that I actually had a recipe for coeur a la creme! I got the ’recipe card’ when I bought the mould. I must try it soon, even more so if it is *outrageously* delicious! I don’t think mine would taste as nice as your mum’s, though ;)

    Michele - thank you for dropping by, you don’t need the special mould to make the mascarpone, but it does grab your heart, doesn’t it...

    Cathy - yes, I think you normally make coeur a la creme with this mould. Thank you so much for the info about citric acid, that’s very useful - I didn’t know you could get it in powder and liquid form. I’ll come back to your comment here next time I need know about them!

    Hanajana - thanks for your info!

    Obachan - thanks!

    Shana - I don’t know enough about it, but in the UK, cream with 18% fat is called single cream, 38% is whipping cream and 48% is double cream. (I think I need Cathy’s help to explain better than this...)

    Anita - I’ll try to email you next time I leave a comment, thanks.

    Posted by keiko | 15 July 2005 #

  • Oh, I’m so glad to have this recipe. C and I had a valentine’s dinner this year where we picked stuff up from the Ferry Plaza. For dessert, we got a Coeur a la Creme with brandied cherries.

    So, your dessert is fully adaptable for a winter dessert, also!

    Posted by Fatemeh | 16 July 2005 #

  • Hi Fatemeh - I hope you’ll enjoy this version as well!

    Posted by keiko | 16 July 2005 #

  • Would like to know what could be used instead of Citric Acid- in a Redcurrant & Roseamry Glaze and also in a Maple & Cimmamon Glaze? as Lemon Jusice contains Sulphur Dioxide cannot use this !!!!

    Posted by Maria.Miotello@Martletfoods.co | 14 February 2006 #

  • droool

    Posted by jetset | 13 August 2006 #

  • COULD YOU PLEASE ADVISE ME AS TO WHERE IN THE U.K. I CAN PURCHASE A 7 AND 1/4 COEUR A LA CREME DISH/MOULD. I HAVE TRIED LOTS OF BID
    NAMES IN THE COOKING WORLD BUT NO ONE SEEMS TO STOCK THIS ITEM.

    MANY THANKS ROGER GRIFFITHS

    Posted by ROGER C. GRIFFITHS | 29 November 2007 #

  • Hi there, thank you for all your notes and I’m sorry it’s taken so long to get back to you.

    Maria – I’m afraid I don’t know the answer, I used lemon juice for this recipe instead of citric acid, sorry it’s not much help!

    Roger – I bought mine at a local kitchen shop, but I’ve seen them at some of the big kitchen shops in London, Divertimenti should have some.

    Posted by keiko | 21 January 2008 #

  • Could someone please give me the original recipe for Cremet d’Anjou (made with fromage frais and meringue) I would so love to do this. Although I still haven’t been able to find a 7” mould yet but I am still trying.

    Thank you so much in anticipation….

    Posted by eunice p stokes | 3 May 2008 #

  • delicioso

    Posted by elizabeth | 6 March 2012 #

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