Bavarian Cream with Strawberry Coulis
We love classic desserts. They're too often overlooked for the dessert-fad-of-the-moment. But really…isn't it a little more impressive to serve a Bavarian Cream dessert at your next dinner party than a sprinkle cupcake lollipop?
Bavarian Creams are usually a chilled, molded dessert. They're probably best defined by their unique creamy-but-firm texture, which comes from a combination of egg custard, gelatin, and whipped cream. (A mousse, by comparison, doesn't include gelatin.)
There's a lot of debate about the history of this dish. One thing that's pretty certain, however, is that it didn't actually originate in Bavaria. Or at least the formal recipe didn't – the first recorded versions are from France. One theory is that the creamy dessert was created in Germany where it was faddish for 19th century German royal households to employ french chefs, then one of those chefs must have brought the methodology home to France where it became more universally popular.
So while we're not prone to embracing contemporary dessert fads, we're not adverse to adapting a 19th dessert fad. Our Bavarian Cream with strawberry coulis is made the traditional way, but we don't go to the bother of unmolding it. (Which, let's face it, is a crap shoot one doesn't want to deal with at the last minute during a dinner party.)
Bavarian Cream with Strawberry Coulis
For the Bavarian Cream:
Seeds scraped from 3 vanilla beans, or 1 1/2 T vanilla extract
1 3/4 C heavy whipping cream
2 envelopes of unflavored gelatin
7 egg yolks
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 cups milk
For the Strawberry Coulis:
2 pints strawberries (frozen is fine.)
1/2 cup sugar
Juice of 1/2 lemon
For the whipped topping:
1 C heavy whipping cream
1 T sugar
2 T Lemoncello
The Strawberry Coulis can be made several days beforehand and refrigerated. Heat berries, lemon juice and sugar in saucepan over low heat until a sauce has formed. Sieve sauce through a fine wire mesh with the back of a rubber spatula to remove seeds and create a smooth berry coulis. Allow to cool and thicken.
To make Bavarian Cream:
Using the whisk attachment of your stand mixer, whip very cold heavy cream on medium high until it forms soft peaks. Place whipped cream back in refrigerator.
Measure 2/3 c cold water in measuring cup, and mix in gelatin. Allow to sit for 10 min.
Also fill sink, or very large bowl with ice and water. You will need this cooling bath at the ready after you make the custard.
In a medium mixing bowl, beat together the egg yolks and sugar with wooden spoon until light yellow and creamy.
In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and vanilla seeds (or extract) until just boiling. Stir as heating to avoid burning. Remove the milk from the heat, add one ladlefull to egg yolk mixture, stirring quickly to incorporate. Add two more ladlefulls, stirring to incorporate in between. (The point of doing this slowly is to keep the eggs from "scrambling" as the hot milk is added.) Once warm egg/milk mixture is greater than the amount of warm milk left in the saucepan, combine it all together back in the saucepan. Be sure to keep stirring mixture as often as possible.
Slowly reheat mixture over low heat, stirring constantly. As mixture heats, it will thicken to the point that it coats a wooden spoon. Do not overheat, or egg mixture will curdle, or "scramble." Once custard mixture has thickened appropriately, remove from heat and stir in dissolved gelatin. Then immediately set saucepan in ice bath, while continuing to stir. The cream will begin to thicken further as it cools. Once at room temperature, remove from ice bath and fold in the whipped cream you made earlier. Fold gently until incorporated. Spoon the creamed mixture into decorative glasses or molds (leaving room at top for coulis and whipped cream) and refrigerate until well chilled. (If you choose to go the fancy-pants molded route, right before serving set molds in a pan of hot water that reaches the top of the molds but does not spill into them. Leave for several seconds, and then invert onto serving plate.)
While waiting for cream to set, make the topping by whipping the cream and sugar together until soft peaks form, adding in Lemoncello at final stages.
To serve, remove creams from refrigerator, add several spoonfuls of strawberry coulis to top, and finish with whipped topping. Allow to come to just below room temperature for optimal flavor.
