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Dessert

Strawberry Bavarian Cream

A chilled dessert made with strawberries, milk, cream, egg yolks, sugar, gelatin, and whipped cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Strawberry Bavarian Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fruit and gelatin

  1. Soak the gelatin in cold water for two hours.

  2. Mash the strawberries with sugar and let them stand for one hour.

  3. Strain the berries, pressing out all but the seeds.

Make the custard

  1. Scald the milk, then beat the egg yolks and pour the milk over them, stirring constantly.

  2. Return the mixture to the heat and cook until thick as cream, stirring well.

  3. Remove from heat, add the dissolved gelatin, and strain.

Set and serve

  1. Set the mixture in a pan of ice and add the berry juice, stirring occasionally.

  2. Whip the cream, and when the mixture begins to thicken, fold in the whipped cream quickly and lightly.

  3. Pour into a mold and let it harden.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Strawberries
Provide the main flavour and the fruity juice that tints and flavours the cream.
Egg yolks
Thicken the custard base as they cook, giving it a rich, smooth body.
Cream
Adds richness and, when whipped and folded in, a light, airy texture.
Gelatine
Sets the cooled mixture so it holds its shape when unmoulded.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard along with the egg yolks.
Sugar
Sweetens the berries and the custard, and draws juice out of the fruit.

The step that matters

Folding in the whipped cream. If the mixture has thickened too far or the cream is folded in roughly, the air is lost and the dessert turns dense. Fold quickly and lightly once the base just begins to thicken, so it stays airy and sets evenly.

“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.

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