Bavarian Cream And Berries Recipe

When hosting a dinner party, the menu isn't complete without an impressive dessert. Not only will guests need a sweet treat after their main meal, but they will also be looking for you to show off your skills in the kitchen.

If you want to dabble in the art of fancy dessert-making but are intimidated by the baking world, then this recipe for Bavarian cream and berries brought to us by recipe developer, Catherine Brookes, is a great place to start. This recipe has all the elements of a show-stopping dessert: a wonderful texture, impressive looks, a simple elegance, and our favorite element, the deliciously sweet and creamy taste.

Brookes tells us, "This is a fun one to make if you have guests over for a special occasion. It's great that you can prep it in advance and it's ready to serve." The fact that you can prep this dessert in advance is what truly makes it a showstopper for us. Limited time coupled with a long to-do list is the plight of every dinner host so make this Bavarian cream and berries dessert the day before to cut down on the stress on party night.

To make this Bavarian cream and berries, you can start by gathering your ingredients. For this recipe, you will need egg yolks, sugar, milk, vanilla extract, gelatin, heavy cream, and fresh berries.

While we happen to love this version made with fresh berries, this highly versatile recipe lends itself nicely to many other renditions. Brookes notes, "You could also add chocolate or raspberry sauce, jam, cookie crumbs, or other fresh fruits if desired."

In a bowl, add the egg yolks and the sugar. Using a hand mixer, beat the yolks and sugar together until the mixture is pale and fluffy.

Then, in a small bowl with the powdered gelatin, add the boiling water and stir. This will activate the gelatin. Make sure to use powdered gelatin in this recipe, as opposed to sheet gelatin. Sheet gelatin, alternatively, requires being hydrated in a large bowl of water, then wrung out to eliminate the excess moisture. This recipe has been developed with powdered gelatin in mind, so be sure to buy the right kind.

Bring a saucepan filled with milk and vanilla extract to a boil. Remove this saucepan from the heat. 

Now, it's time to combine the hot milk mixture with the egg yolks, but you'll want to temper the eggs to make sure the hot liquid does not cook them. To temper the egg mixture, you're going to add a small amount of hot liquid to them bit by bit so their temperature raises slowly rather than all at once. Tempering eggs can be an intimidating process, but the trick is to add just a little of the hot milk at a time to the eggs and continue whisking as you go. By keeping the mixture moving and going slow you'll prevent the eggs from scrambling. 

So slowly add the hot milk bit by bit to the egg mixture until about half of the milk has been added. This should temper the egg mixture, and now you can safely add all the egg mixture into the hot saucepan filled with milk. Whisk this combination together until it heats through, which takes about 2 minutes.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and pour the contents into a large bowl along with the gelatin mixture. Set the bowl aside for at least 10 minutes to cool. Then, grease the molds with butter or oil and whip up some homemade whipped cream. Fold the whipped cream into the egg mixture, before pouring it into the molds.

Not sure what type of molds to use? Brookes says, "I used stainless steel pudding molds but any kind will do. You can also make these in ramekins or glasses if you'd prefer not to turn them out." Chill the molds for at least 6 hours, but preferably overnight. Then, serve them with some fresh berries.