BUTTER HEARTS RECIPES

Steps:

• Coffee Rub
• Mix ingredients for the rub in advance. This yields about 2 tablespoons worth of spices, you might only use about half for this recipe, depending on how big the heart is.
• Heart
• Wash the heart out with water and pump out any coagulated blood. Use a sharp knife to trim the valves and fat around the top. Make a slice down the main coronary artery that runs along the outside of the heart to open one side out flat. Cut this small piece off. You will be left with a cone shaped piece of muscle. Make another cut down the middle to open and lay flat. Trim any fibrous tendons on the meat. You should end up with two flat pieces that look like steaks. One will be thick, the other thin.
• Sprinkle both sides of the venison heart with the coffee rub. Reserve a couple of pinches for the whiskey-butter sauce.
• You can cook on a camp stove or build a small fire and burn the wood down to coals. Place a cast iron over the medium-high burner or on top of a grate over the fire. Once hot, add a tablespoon of oil and sear the heart on both sides until cooked through. You should treat it as you would a steak and serve with it still pink in the middle. The thin flap will only take about a minute or two per side, while the thicker steak could take up to 3-4 per side.
• Remove the heart to a cutting board and let it rest.
• Deglaze the pan with the whiskey, scraping up fond (the cracklings and brown bits) at the bottom of the pan with your tongs. Let the alcohol boil off for a few seconds, then add the butter and a couple pinches of coffee rub to season. Swirl the pan around until it melts and emulsifies. If you over-heat the butter, it will start to brown and separate; remove it from heat if you see that start to happen. Pour the whiskey-butter pan sauce over the heart and serve. The ideal presentation is served around a campfire and eaten with fingers.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl using a hand mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy and pale in color. Add egg, milk, and vanilla and beat until combined, then add flour mixture gradually until totally combined.  Shape into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate 1 hour. When ready to roll, preheat oven to 350º and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Lightly flour a clean work surface and roll out dough until 1/8” thick. Using a heart shaped cookie cutter, cut out cookies and transfer to prepared baking sheets.  Bake until edges are lightly golden, 8 to 10 minutes.  Make frosting: In a large bow using a hand mixer, beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt and beat until combined.  Divide frosting into 3 bowls. Add pink food coloring to one bowl and red food coloring to another. Stir each bowl and add more food coloring until desired color is reached. Frost cookies using an offset spatula with each color of frosting, then top with sprinkles.