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Dessert

Chocolate Bavarian Cream

A chilled dessert made from whipped cream, gelatin, milk, sugar, and chocolate.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 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 ↓

Chocolate Bavarian Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Soak the gelatin in cold water for 2 hours.

  2. Whip and drain the cream.

  3. Scrape the chocolate.

  4. Boil the milk in a saucepan.

Make the custard

  1. In a small saucepan, combine the chocolate, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and 1 tablespoon of hot water.

  2. Stir over heat until smooth.

  3. Stir the chocolate mixture into the hot milk.

  4. Add the soaked gelatin and the remaining sugar.

  5. Strain into a basin that holds at least 2 quarts.

  6. Place the basin in a pan of ice water.

  7. Stir until cold and thickened.

  8. Gradually stir in the whipped cream, starting with half.

Mold and serve

  1. Dip the mold in cold water.

  2. Pour the cream into the mold.

  3. Chill in the ice chest for at least 1 hour.

  4. Dip the mold in warm water.

  5. Ensure the cream releases from the sides.

  6. Turn it out onto a flat dish.

  7. Serve with additional whipped cream.

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. Cream + chocolatetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,466 recipes

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

  3. Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,128 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

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

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

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 turned out of the mold.
Whipped cream
Adds lightness and a soft, airy texture to the set dessert.
Chocolate
Provides the main flavour and colour of the dessert.
Milk
Forms the liquid base that carries the chocolate and gelatin.
Sugar
Sweetens the chocolate base and balances its bitterness.

The step that matters

Stir until cold and thickened. Gelatin sets as the base cools, so the mixture must be thick but not yet firm before the cream is folded in. If it is still warm, the whipped cream will deflate and the set will be weak.

“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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