Chocolate Chevre

In winter, I like to eat blue cheese for dessert. But in summer, well, that can be dicey. Take today, when it's supposed to be 97 in Philadelphia -- you couldn't pay me to eat Stilton. Well, okay, with the right port.

Still, I prefer the lighter cheeses on a sizzler, which is why today, I woke up thinking about this original chocolate chevre from Amazing Acres.

Several weeks ago, Debbie Mikulak dropped off a puck of this curious cheese she'd made, and -- I must admit -- I did a doubletake when I pulled it out of the paper bag. Typically, I don't go for flavored cheeses. Keep those hunks of mango out of my Stilton, please! A few days later, I got curious to try Debbie's chocolate chevre. She recommended serving it with berries and pound cake, which seems just about perfect for a 4th of July dessert.

I wish I still had some around.

Here's what I liked about this chevre: it's not too sweet. It looks like a mini chocolate cheesecake, but it doesn't taste like one -- no gooey consistency or cloying aftertaste. The dark chocolate flavor stands out, but it doesn't overpower the goat cheese. You can still taste a little tang.

With some cherry preserves and thin almond biscotti, you'd have bliss. I also have fantasies of sandwiching it between two amaretti cookies from Termini Bros. I'd serve it with a glass of Lindemans Framboise -- which tastes like liquid raspberries -- or some spiked coffee.

One other cheesemaker I know of sells chocolate chevre, Capri, out of Indiana. I would imagine you could also whip up some chocolate chevre yourself, using some good fresh goat cheese and some fiendishly dark cocoa. I'd use Green & Black's, which is Fair Trade and tastes divine in baked goods.

When the heat breaks around here, I'm going to try this recipe for Black Bottom Cupcakes with Goat Cheese -- I mean, as long as we're talking about dessert.