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Dessert

Apple Bavaroise

A chilled apple dessert made with gelatin, cream, and sherry.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Apple and sherry work together. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 395 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓

Apple Bavaroise

Ingredients

Directions

Make the apple base

  1. Place the apples in a pan with sugar and 2 tablespoons of water.

  2. Simmer until they turn to pulp.

  3. Pass the mixture through a sieve or mash with a fork.

  4. Add the sherry and measure; you should have ½ pint of juice.

Set and finish

  1. Melt the gelatin in the remaining ½ cup of water.

  2. Strain the gelatin mixture into the apple mixture.

  3. Just before the mixture sets, fold in the whipped cream.

  4. Pour into a mold.

  5. Decorate with colored jelly, pistachios, or fruits as desired.

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. Apple + sherrytop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together395 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  2. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

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

  3. Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together16,478 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Cream + sherrytop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).

  5. Sugar + sherrytop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,141 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Apple and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 16,478 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

Apples
Cook down to a pulp that gives the dessert its body and flavour.
Cream
Whipped into the mixture to add lightness and a smooth, creamy texture.
Gelatine
Sets the liquid mixture so it holds its shape when unmoulded.
Sugar
Sweetens the apples and balances the tartness of the fruit.
Sherry
Adds aroma and a mild acidity to the apple juice.

The step that matters

Fold in the cream just before the mixture sets. If the gelatine has already firmed, the cream cannot blend evenly and will leave streaks or lumps. If the mixture is still too warm and liquid, the cream will deflate and the bavaroise will not hold its shape.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cream, sherry):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Strawberryfits better
  3. Pineapplefits about as well
  4. Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cream, sherry. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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