Why it works: Gelatin and cream match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,628 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓
Bavarian Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the gelatin and cream
Soak the gelatin in 1 cup of milk.
Scald 1½ pints of cream in a double boiler.
Stir and dissolve the gelatin in the hot cream.
Add a large pinch of salt and keep hot.
Make the custard base
Beat the yolks of 4 eggs until thick and foamy.
Add 1 cup of sugar and beat well.
Slowly pour the hot cream and gelatin into the yolks while whipping steadily.
Continue to whip until very light and quite cold.
Finish and mold
Have an assistant whip the egg whites until stiff.
Fold the whipped egg whites into the cream mixture until frothy.
Flavor to taste and pour into molds that have been wet with cold water.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
-
Gelatin + creamtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,628 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
-
Gelatin + sugartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,778 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Gelatin
- Sets the cream so it holds its shape when unmolded.
- Heavy cream
- Provides richness and a smooth, creamy texture.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the custard and help thicken it as it is whipped with hot cream.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cream and balances the richness of the yolks and cream.
- Egg whites
- Whipped and folded in to lighten the mixture with air bubbles.
The step that matters
Slowly pour the hot cream and gelatin into the yolks while whipping steadily. Pouring hot liquid too fast into the yolks can scramble them or cause lumps. Adding it slowly while whipping gently warms the yolks so the mixture stays smooth.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
More bavarian cream recipes
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.