
RECIPE
Cream Heart/Coeur à la créme, with Spanish Picota Cherry Compote
“This is a pretty and romantic dessert. You will need heart-shaped moulds, which have tiny drainage holes, and cheesecloth. The Spanish Picota cherry compote can be used for other dishes: to add to porridge, to top muesli, waffles or pancakes or simply in yoghurt.” – Kerstin Rodgers*


Preparation time: — minutes
Cooking time: — minutes

- 150g mascarpone
- 100g double cream
- 50g icing sugar
- A few drops of almond essence
– For the compote:
- 500g Spanish Picota cherries, chopped, leaving some whole, pitted
- 70g caster sugar
- Cup Cherry brandy
- Juice of half a lemon

-For the coeur à la créme:
- Mix all the cream heart ingredients (mascarpone, cream, vanilla, icing sugar) together by whipping gently (not overmuch as mascarpone easily turns to butter).
- Dampen the cheese cloth and line your dish with it, pressing the cloth into the corners of the heart.
- Scoop the mixture into the cheese cloth lined dish and smooth the top. Give the mould a little bang on the worktop. Place on a saucer in the fridge to drain for a few hours.
– For the compote:
- Warm the cherries in a medium sized saucepan with the sugar, lemon juice until they are bubbling hot. Let it cool to lukewarm and add the cherry brandy.
- Unmould the cream heart carefully, gently peeling off the cheesecloth, and flip it over onto the dish.
- Surround the heart with warm berries. Serve.