I was thrilled to find strawberries at the farmers' market this past weekend. I think that they are available earlier than usual this year because of the warm weather we have had this spring. Whatever the reason, though, there they were, ushering in berry season and signaling that yes, another year really has passed.
Chloe had come with me to the market and she suggested that I buy one pint for each of us. I laughed at first at the thought of so many strawberries, but when I looked at her face I realized that she too was caught up in the possibilities that so many strawberries signaled. So five pints of strawberries it was. We are going through them at a quick pace so I think it was a good call.
I was particularly eager to use the berries in a recipe that Merrill Stubbs had posted on food52 for coeur à la crème with strawberries. I did not know what coeur à la crème was before I saw this, but it is similar to a custard, although made differently, with a combination of ricotta, sour cream, cream cheese, heavy cream, egg whites, and sugar. Olivia and I joked that it was all of our favorite white foods with a splash of vanilla. It seemed to be a fancy version of classic strawberries and cream, and I thought it would be fantastic for Mother's Day.
When I say that I thought it would be perfect for Mother's Day, I envisioned sitting on the couch reading while the children buzzed around in the kitchen whipping it up for me. It didn't quite happen that way, but they did help out quite a bit. Olivia's friend even pitched in; in fact, she stayed on after my own children had lost interest.
The result was delicious. The creamy flavor with a bit of tang from the sour cream was the perfect complement to those perfect berries. Follow this link for the recipe and see my notes below if you are interested in trying it.
A few notes about the process. I made the dish in a colander, not a heart-shaped mold, so it was more dome than coeur. But because the mixture is so pliable I probably could have formed it into a heart shape with the cheesecloth. In fact, I shaped it a bit as I was removing it from the colander and it held its shape well.
I placed the colander over a bowl because I understood that the whey would drain off when it was refrigerated, but it didn't work that way for me. I wonder whether my cheesecloth was too thick. It didn't matter in the end, though. The texture was light and airy and quite delicious.
To remove it from the colander, I just gathered the cheesecloth at the top and lifted the mixture in the cheesecloth out of the colander and onto a plate. There, I peeled back the cheesecloth and placed my serving plate on top of the coeur. I then quickly flipped the plates over so that the serving plate was on the bottom. Finally, I removed the cheesecloth, and we decorated with the strawberries.
Second helping: Strawberry shortcake
Glad to have the mystery solved! Chloe said she had been making the Mother's Day dessert, but couldn't remember what it was...all of, what, 30 minutes later? :)
Posted by: Andrea | May 10, 2010 at 08:32 AM
So funny, Andrea. But that didn't stop her from eating it. She lapped it up last night!
Posted by: Margy | May 10, 2010 at 10:44 AM
This would be a huge hit for all the strawberry lovers in our home and a good recipe to add to our summer repertoire! Thanks so much and I hope you had a fabulous Mother's Day!
Posted by: Leticia- Tech Savvy Mama | May 10, 2010 at 08:47 PM
Leticia, With strawberry picking on the horizon I hope for much more of this. I hope you had a happy Mother's Day, too. No Cannes, but at least time at home with the kiddies.
Posted by: Margy | May 13, 2010 at 09:35 PM