Heisseliebe - "Hot-Love" From the Dolomite Mountains

If you go to the Dolomite Mountains in the North-East of Italy, one of the desserts that you have to try is called Heisseliebe, which is German for “hot-love”. It’s a mixture of hot raspberries and cold cream, with vanilla ice-cream. As you probably noticed, the dessert’s name is in German, although it is made just near the border in Italy. As it is close to the border with Austria, there is a really interesting bilingual/bi-cultural phenomenon going on there.

I’m sure than the creators of Hot-love called it that just to make people titter and giggle nervously when they order it in restaurants and cafés, so that the waiters have something to laugh about.

It’s very simple to make: just vanilla ice-cream, cooked raspberries and whipped cream. As with all recipes with very few ingredients, the quality of each thing is very important. Heisseliebe will taste tremendously different if you make it with freshly whipped cream, homemade vanilla ice-cream, and in-season raspberries rather than cream from a can, commercial ice-cream and canned raspberries.

Though, I have to say that both of the resulting desserts will taste wonderful.

For 4 people

• Vanilla ice-cream
• 500 g Raspberries (4 cups, 17.6 oz)
• 1 Tbsp White Sugar
• Double Cream

Note on the raspberries: You can either use all fresh, or a mixture of fresh and frozen, as I did this time that I made the recipe. I used 100 g of fresh and 400 g of frozen. I did this because fresh raspberries are really expensive right now! If you do the same thing, cook the frozen ones and leave the fresh ones whole to scatter over the dessert.

I have not given exact measurements for the ice-cream or the cream, as that really depends on how much of each thing you would like to have.

Put the raspberries in a small saucepan with the sugar, saving a few for decoration.

Heat them until they start to boil.

Take them off the heat and gently mash them with the back of a spoon or fork.

Either use a good commercial vanilla ice-cream, or make it yourself if you own an ice-cream maker.

I sometimes make an easy vanilla ice-cream with 3/4 cup white sugar, 2 cups cream, 1 cup milk and 1/2 tsp vanilla essence. Mix these ingredients together and churn them in the ice-cream maker. This time around, I used the ice-cream you see in the photo above as I was too lazy to get my ice-cream maker going. :D

Whip the cream with a whisk or handheld beaters until it becomes thick.

• Put one or two scoops of ice-cream in individual bowls.
• Spoon hot raspberry sauce around the scoops.
• Add a spoonful or two of whipped cream.
• Scatter fresh raspberries over the dessert.