Chocolate Coeur a la Crème is one of those simple and delectable recipes I saw Emeril make on his show way back when, and it just stuck with me. That often happens to me (with food). You know, I see it once (I don’t even have to taste it) and I can’t get it out of my mind until I make it mine. Finally the day has come and I am thrilled to share this delicious, perfectly balanced, light, yet indulgent dessert in all its glory with you!
Emeril served his Chocolate Coeur a la Crème with chocolate covered strawberries. Since you will already be melting chocolate to mix with the cream cheese batter you can go ahead and melt some more to dip and coat your favorite fresh fruit. I added delightfully bright orange zest to the batter and am serving this with Cherry Compote. The Coeur a la Crème itself is dense and not cloying and the soft, sweet, fruit compote is really the perfect complement. But like I always say – do what you like and make it your own.
Chocolate Orange Coeur a la Crème Cheesecake with Cherry Compote
Servings
Ingredients
- 4 ounces semisweet chocolate melted
- 16 ounces 2 packages cream cheese
- 1 pint 2 cups container dairy sour cream
- ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
- 2 teaspoons grated fresh orange peel
- 1 tablespoon chocolate liqueur or chocolate-orange liqueur optional
- 1 cup frozen pitted cherries defrosted
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup water
Instructions
- Melt the chocolate and set it aside to cool. In the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium speed, beat the cream cheese, sour cream and confectioners’ sugar for 2 minutes or until smooth. Add the melted chocolate, orange peel and liqueur, if using, and beat for one minute or thoroughly blended.
- Rinse 8 6-inch x 6-inch double layer squares of cheesecloth under water and squeeze them to extract as much water as possible. Line 8 6-ounce ramekins with the cheesecloth. Divide the cheese mixture among the prepared ramekins and fold the cheesecloth over the top. Refrigerate overnight, about 10 hours.
- To make the compote, combine the cherries, sugar and water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes or until cherries are very soft and the sauce is slightly thickened. Cool completely, break the cherries up with a fork or with an immersion blender and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- To serve, invert the ramekins on top of 8 dessert plates. Remove the cheesecloth. Spoon equal amounts of the cherry compote over the chocolate hearts or around them.
- Tip: while this recipe works perfectly in round ramekins, this dessert looks especially pretty in heart-shaped ramekins.
Sure – just remember it’s no bake so you will want to use a ready-to-eat crust or pre-bake it. EnJOY!
Can I make this in a kosher for passover pie crust?