Marie Antoinette and the Heart-Shaped Cheese. Now with added cheese.

Castles, Crowns and Cottages.

I'm honoured, and delighted,
to be included In
Castles, Crowns and Cottages
exploration of 
La Belle France.

So here was my inspiration.

A doll with the painted face

of an 18th century princess,

playing at a milkmaid.

With contemporary 18th century portraits

as a reference for the features.

 The eyes suggested with paint

in monochrome, like a grisaille.

The irises in a grey blue,

wide and innocent.

A rosebud mouth, 

small and slightly pouting.

Paint and powder,

a natural blush deepened 

by a touch of carmine.

And finally, soft white hair,

powdered, pomaded and piled high,

to be decorated with 

rows of roses.

And I know what she'd make,

this little princess milkmaid.

She'd make heart-shaped cheese.

The beautiful Neufchatel.

(PS. I didn't make this particular cheese. I wish I had.
If I made these wonderful, dreamy cheeses,
 this would be a cheese blog, not a doll blog.)

No, no, my dears!

Not the stuff in the block

by the cream cheeses

at Wal*Mart.

This is the real thing.

Salty and tangy and crumbly-delicious.

I miss it so.

So, I made a heart-shaped cheese of my own,

with herbs and garlic.

And this is the recipe.

 Ingredients.

1 block of neufchatel cheese

(or cream cheese; full fat,

fat free, whatever)

1 or 2 cloves fresh garlic

(To taste.)

A handful of fresh herbs.

I  used parsley,

but any mild, soft-leaved herb would do

either alone or blended.

Method. 

First, puree the garlic.

(My Aunty Joanne who was

 the most glamorous woman I ever knew

taught me this method.)

Peel the garlic cloves

and sprinkle on a good pinch of salt.

Start to chop the raw garlic into the salt,

scraping the knife and gathering the 

chopped bits back together.

 The garlic will start out as little chunks

but will slowly transform into a thick puree.

Chop the clean herbs into tiny flakes.

Yes, by hand.

Line your heart-shaped mould

with foil and sprinkle the base 

with a light layer of chopped herbs.

Combine the remainder of the herbs 

and the fresh garlic puree into the neufchatel cheese.

Spoon gently into the mould

and press into shape.

Chill. 

An hour or two is fine

Overnight is better.

Turn out of the mould.

Serve with good bread,

  buttery crackers

and 

cold, crisp white wine.

(If you don't have a suitable mould,

form the cheese into a cylinder, 

then roll in chopped herbs

 and wrap tightly in foil or cling film.)