Bleeding Human Heart
(inspired by Penn & Teller's Bleeding Heart)

First of all, find your mould. I found mine about 10 years ago at Spencer's Gifts around Halloween season. It came with a very similar recipe, but not any instructions to make it bleed. You can find human heart moulds online as well as at local Halloween stores, too. Second, thoroughly wash your mould, especially all the detail where the veins are. When completely dry, spray the mould with non-stick cooking spray. You'll see below that Penn & Teller used a Valentine's Day-style heart-shaped cake pan. I think using the human heart mould improves on their concept one-hundred percent!

My human heart mould isn't large enough to handle the whole Penn & Teller recipe, so I halved the following recipe. I also altered the blood by using raspberry syrup and Chambord raspberry liqueur instead of the grenadine, since I was using raspberry gelatine. After the mould is set, I turn out the heart and set it on a crystal pedestal plate and use food colouring and a small brush to accent the veins. I even use red food colouring to shade the contours (it really does make a difference). I use my large Psycho-style butcher knife to sever and serve, as they suggest below.

Otherwise, I have left the original Penn & Teller recipe intact below...it's rather long, but VERY descriptive and detailed...

Penn & Teller's Bleeding Heart
Penn & Teller's How to Play With Your Food 1992 by Buggs & Rudy Discount Corp.

The title says it all. It's the perfect coup de grace for your intimate dinner at home. As your guests sip their coffee, you unveil a glistening pink gelatine heart on a pedestal cake stand. Then you whip out a carving knife and stab it. Dark, gooey blood issues majestically from the wound. You cut dainty slices off the lobes of the heart and flip them onto dessert plates. You hold each portion under the oozing gash until it is nicely sauced with gore, add a dollop of whipped cream, and serve.

INGREDIENTS

4 cups of water
four 3-oz. boxes or two 6-oz boxes of peach (pink; think of lung tissue)
or strawberry (redder; think of livers and hearts) gelatin dessert mix.
4 envelopes unflavoured gelatine
one 12-ounce can unsweetened evaporated milk

1/2 cup grenadine syrup
1 cup light corn syrup
one small bottle (0.3 fl. oz.) red food colouring
3 drops blue food colouring
one 1-gallon food-storage bag (the plain kind without the zip closure)
6 1/2 cup heart-shaped gelatine mould or cake pan

PREPARATION

Boil the water. Put the packaged gelatine dessert and unflavoured gelatine in a bowl and pour the boiling water over it, stirring constantly. Cool to room temperature (very important or the next step may present problems). Stir in the condensed milk. (They mean the evaporated milk listed in the ingredients. This is an error in the original book. - Britta) Note how it already is acquiring the colour of freshly skinned flesh.

Pour the mixture into the gelatine mould. Cover the bottom of the mould (this will be the top when you serve it) with a layer about half an inch think. Refrigerate until it gels firmly.

Meanwhile, prepare a nice bladder of blood. Stir together the corn syrup, grenadine, and food colourings (we do it right in the measuring cup to save dish washing--every erg saved in preparation is an erg one can use to enjoy the Payoff). For the bladder (the bag that keeps the blood together inside the mass of gelatine) take the gallon-size food-storage bag and turn it inside out. Pour the blood mixture into one corner of the bag and twist it closed so that no air bubble is caught between the sauce and the twist. Tie a knot in the twisted plastic. Adjust the position of the knot so that when the bag lies on the counter, it's about 1 1/2 to 2 inches high, and tighten the knot. With a pair of scissors, snip off the frilly extra plastic outside the knot.

When the gelatine on the bottom of the mould is stiff and firm, position the bladder of blood in the mould, with the point of the bag just inside the point of the heart. Make sure there is at least 3/4" of space between all sides of the bag and the walls of the mould (this will ensure that your guests don't see clues ahead of time). Pour in the remaining gelatine until the mould is as full as you can handle. Don't worry if you see a little of the blood-bladder grazing the surface of the gelatine, as longs as it doesn't project too much; the side you are looking at now will be the bottom when you serve it.
Refrigerate until gelled firmly to the texture of fine, lean organ meat. It takes about 4 hours.

To unmould, put about 2 1/2 inches of hot, but not boiling water in your sink. Set your mould in the water so that the water comes just below the edge of the mould for 15 to 20 seconds; the time depends on the thickness of the mould pan. Remove the mould from the water, and run the blade of a knife around the edge of the gelatine. Invert your serving platter, ideally a white pedestal cake plate, on top and hold it firmly in place. Then use both hands to turn over the mould and the plate. Remove the mould; you may need to tap or shake the mould slightly to free the gelatine.

PRESENTATION

The blood looks prettiest when it flows over white plates, doilies, and table linen, which it may stain permanently--but what the hell, it's the effect that matters. To serve, use a nice, big Psycho-style chef's knife and stab the side of the gelatine about one third of the way up from the pointed end of the heart. Twist the knife slightly, and blood will start to ooze out. Bare your teeth like a Marine jabbing with bayonet, and widen the wound. When the blood is coming at a good slip, grab a dessert plate, and cut a slice from one of the lobes of the heart. Flip it onto the plate, and drizzle it with blood by holding it under the edge of the pedestal. Add whipped cream and serve.