Bon appetite! Eat something wonderful!
Here is recipe for a classic French dessert, guaranteed to be something wonderful!
Raspberry (or Strawberry) Bavarian Cream
(Bavarois aux Fruits)
For 8 to 10 people
Bavarian cream is a mold of crème anglaise (custard sauce) with gelatin, beaten egg whites, lightly beaten cream, and a flavoring. It is unmolded after it has been chilled, and makes a dessert as beautiful to see as it is to eat. When properly made, it has a most lovely, light, creamy, velvety quality and ranks as one of the best of the molded desserts.
We were curious to try out some of the recipes for Bavarian cream which claimed to produce masterpieces in seconds, so we experimented with the electric blender, raw egg yolks, cracked ice, and so forth. We also ran various changes of our own, such as substituting frozen fruits or ice cream for cracked ice. Though the molded results looked handsome, their flavor and consistency were disappointing. We have concluded that this particular masterpiece cannot be achieved in seconds; a cooked custard, well-dissolved gelatin, stiffly beaten egg whites, properly whipped cream, perfect flavoring, and then the right blending of one element into another at the right time seem to be the requisites for a true Bavarian cream. The classical method below is certainly far from difficult, and the whole dessert may be prepared the day, or even two days, before serving.
The raspberry flavoring:
½ cup raspberry (or strawberry) juice or orange juice
1 pint fresh raspberries or strawberries or 1 lb. frozen berries, thawed and well drained
1 ½ Tbs (1 ½ packages) gelatin
If you are using frozen berries, dissolve the gelatin in ½ cup of the juice. Otherwise use orange juice. Force the fruit through a sieve and measure out ¾ to 1 cup of purée. (Any leftover purée may go into your sauce.) Fold measured purée into custard along with the whipped cream.
The custard sauce:
5 egg yolks
A wire whip or electric beater
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1 ½ cups boiling milk
A 2-quart enameled saucepan
A wooden spoon
Optional: a candy thermometer
Gradually beat the sugar into the egg yolks and continue beating for 2 to 3 minutes until the mixture is pale yellow and forms the ribbon.
Beat in the cornstarch.
Beat the milk in a thin stream of droplets into the egg yolk mixture. Pour into saucepan and set over moderate heat. Stir with wooden spoon until mixture thickens enough to coat the spoon lightly (170 degrees). Do not overheat or egg yolks will scramble.
Remove from heat and immediately add the berry juice and gelatin mixture, beating for a moment or two until gelatin has dissolved completely. Pour in the custard.
The egg whites:
5 egg whites
Pinch of salt
1 Tb granulated sugar
A rubber spatula
Beat the egg whites and salt until soft peaks are formed; sprinkle on the sugar and beat until stiff peaks are formed. Using the rubber spatula, fold the egg whites into the hot custard. Set in refrigerator. Fold delicately with spatula several times while mixture is cooling, to keep it from separating. When cold and almost but not quite set, proceed with recipe.
The whipped cream and final flavoring:
½ cup chilled whipping cream
A chilled mixing bowl
A chilled beater
2 Tb raspberry liqueur
An 8-cup cylindrical mold or ring mold, preferably of metal as unmolding is easier
Lightly oiled waxed paper
Beat the cream lightly, until doubled in volume and beater leaves faint traces on the surface. Fold the whipped cream, raspberry liqueur and berry purée into the custard.
Rinse mold in cold water and shake out excess. Turn the Bavarian cream into the mold. Cover with waxed paper. Chill for 3 to 4 hours or overnight.
Unmolding and serving:
2 to 3 cups strawberry or raspberry sauce
or 1 pint fresh strawberries or raspberries, hulled and sprinkled with sugar
Remove waxed paper. Dip mold in very hot water for 1 second (a second or two longer for a porcelain mold) run knife around the edge of the cream, and reserve on a chilled serving platter. (May be unmolded and refrigerated several hours before serving.)
Serve this Bavarian cream with strawberry or raspberry sauce, or surround the dessert with fresh berries.
From Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, Simone Beck, 1961
No comments:
Post a Comment