Bavarian cream, also known as crème bavaroise, is a simple and delicious dessert made with simple pantry ingredients.
You may be most familiar with Bavarian cream as the soft, fluffy center of cream puffs, layered cake filling, or Bavarian cream donuts. Another version of this pastry cream is diplomat cream.
While almost identical, it starts with a heavier pastry cream, which helps it hold up a little better as a pastry filling.
Our Bavarian cream filling is easy to make and takes less than an hour to prepare. Set-up time does take a few hours, but it’s well worth the wait.
You can place the finished cream into serving dishes or allow it to set in a mold. Using a decorative mold to let the cream set up makes for a great presentation!
Made with heavy cream, milk, and plain gelatin mixture, our Bavarian cream recipe yields a smooth, rich, custard-like cream that pairs well with just about everything!
An important stage in the preparation of Bavarian cream is allowing the gelatin to bloom. You will see that our recipe calls for an hour of refrigeration before adding the whipped cream mixture.
It is essential not to skip or try to rush this step. The gelatin’s proper forming is key to this recipe’s success.
If you love creamy custards, make sure to try our homemade vanilla custard and old-fashioned egg custard pie recipes.
Ingredients to Make Bavarian Cream
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make our Bavarian Cream recipe. In Chef Speak, this is called the Mise en Place, which translates into Everything in its Place.
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed the cooking process, but it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
*Some versions call for vanilla extract. Our version uses a whole vanilla bean for a homemade dessert that’s easy to make and oh-so delicious.
How to Make Bavarian Cream
- Pour the milk into a medium saucepan.
- Slice the vanilla bean in half and scrape the seeds out of the bean. Add the vanilla bean pod and the seeds to the milk. Simmer the milk over medium-low heat until the milk is hot. Then, remove the pan from the heat. Cover the saucepan, and let the vanilla bean and seeds infuse the milk for 20 minutes.
- Add the egg yolks and granulated sugar to a heat-proof bowl.
- Whisk to combine.
- While whisking, slowly pour the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture.
- Mix until smooth.
- Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan. Heat over low heat for 5 – 10 minutes or until the custard has thickened. Remove the pan from the heat.
- Add the gelatin and cold water to a small bowl.
- Mix to combine.
- Add the gelatin mixture to the warm custard.
- Whisk until the gelatin is completely dissolved and mixed into the custard.
- Transfer the custard to a large bowl and place a sheet of plastic wrap on the surface of the custard. Refrigerate the custard for one hour. The custard may still be warm to the touch.
*Don’t leave the custard (before adding the whipped cream) in the refrigerator for too long, as it will begin to set and get too firm. If the custard does set, use an electric hand mixer to loosen it up.
- Add the cold heavy cream to the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment (or a large bowl and electric hand mixer).
*Place the bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes to chill it; this will help with the process. - Whip the cold cream starting at low speed and gradually increase the speed until stiff peaks begin to form (just a little past soft peaks). The process should take 7-10 minutes.
*You will eventually reach high speed, but it’s important to take time and gradually increase the mixer speed. - Take the custard out of the fridge and lightly whisk it to loosen it up.
- Add the whipped cream to the custard.
- Gently fold the whipped cream into the custard mixture.
- To use as a dessert, pour the Bavarian cream into serving cups and place in the refrigerator to set for at least 2 hours.
*The Bavarian cream can also be used as a cake filling or pastry filling. For either use, refrigerate and allow it to set up for 3-4 hours before using (overnight is best).
Chef Tip
If you choose to place your cream into molds, allow your mixture to set in the fridge for around 12 hours.
You’ll know your dessert is ready to serve when you can gently peel away the edges of the custard from the mold. From here, you can lightly coax and shake your molded cream onto a dish for serving.
Finish your Bavarian cream with fresh berries, cinnamon, jam, chocolate sauce, or any of your other flavorful toppings. But It’s also delicious as-is!
Store leftovers refrigerated in an airtight container or well-covered with plastic wrap for 3-4 days. Bavarian cream does not freeze well, as it will separate.
Recipe FAQ’s
Bavarian cream and Boston cream are both custard-based creams. The difference is in the ingredients.
Bavarian cream uses heavy cream and milk as its main base, whereas Boston cream tends to require more eggs and sometimes cornstarch.
Boston cream is well suited to chocolate pairings, whereas Bavarian cream is often served with fruity additions like fresh berries or light jams.
The ingredients in Bavarian cream mean that this dessert will require refrigeration.
Egg yolks can curdle when placed in custard cream, leading to small lumps and bumps in your otherwise smooth dessert.
If you have lumps forming in your Bavarian cream, the easiest way to fix this is to run the mixture through a very fine strainer.
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Bavarian Cream
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 whole vanilla bean or 2 teaspoons of vanilla paste
- 4 large egg yolks – room temperature
- ¼ cup granulated sugar caster sugar or superfine sugar is preferred.
- 1 ½ teaspoon gelatin powder mixed with one tablespoon cold water
- 1 cup heavy cream very cold
Instructions
- Pour the milk into a saucepan.
- Slice the vanilla bean in half and scrape the seeds out of the bean. Add the vanilla bean pod and the seeds to the milk. Simmer the milk over medium-low heat until the milk is hot
- Remove the pan from the heat, cover the saucepan, and let the vanilla bean and seeds infuse the milk for 20 minutes.
- Add the egg yolks and granulated sugar to a heat-proof bowl and whisk to combine.
- Slowly pour the vanilla-infused milk into the egg yolk mixture while whisking. Mix until smooth, then pour the mixture back into the sauce.
- Place the saucepan back on the stove and heat over low heat for 5 – 10 minutes or until the cream has thickened. Remove from the pan from the heat
- Add the gelatin and cold water to a small bowl and mix to combine.
- Add the gelatin mixture to the warm custard. Whisk until the gelatin is completely dissolved and mixed into the custard.
- Transfer the custard to a large bowl and place a sheet of plastic wrap on the surface of the custard. Refrigerate the custard for one hour. The custard may still be warm to the touch.
- Add the cold heavy cream to the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment (or a large bowl and electric hand mixer).*Place the bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes to chill the bowl, this will help with the process.
- Whip the cold cream starting on low speed and gradually increase the speed until stiff peaks begin to form (just a little past soft peaks). The process should take 7-10 minutes.*Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.*You will eventually reach high speed, but it’s important to take time and gradually increase the mixer speed.
- Take the custard out of the fridge and lightly whisk it to loosen it up.
- Gently fold the whipped cream into the custard mixture.
- To use as a dessert, directly pour the Bavarian cream into serving cups and place in the refrigerator to set for at least 2 hours.
- It can also be used as a filling for pastries, or cake filling. For either uses allow to set up in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours before using.
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