There is not a more delicious dessert than that of Bavarian cream. These
creams are exceedingly easy to make, and, as they are prepared some time
before dinner, they have the advantage of being out of the way when
cooking this meal. They are a cheap country dessert, where one has
plenty of cream, yet are not so very expensive in the city, as it only
requires a pint of common cream to make a quart and a half of Bavarian
cream.
When cream is thoroughly chilled, it is much more readily whipped. A
pint can be whipped in a few minutes with a little tin tube
cream-whipper. If no whipper is at hand, beat the cream with a fork, and
skim off the whipped cream as it rises. It is always better not to cook
gelatine; it should be soaked in a little water near the fire for an
hour or two, when it will be entirely dissolved, and then it should be
stirred into the custard while it is still hot. In making the Bavarian
creams, do not add the whipped cream to the ingredients with the
gelatine until they are quite cold and are beginning to set, or they
would otherwise dissolve the cream. The ingredients will set very soon
if placed on ice. The pine-apple Bavarian is especially nice, and can be
made with the canned pine-apple if the fresh pine-apple can not be
obtained; however, there is not much choice, as they are all delicious.
The Bavarian creams all make good _charlottes-russe_, the peach Bavarian
making an especially delicious one. Sometimes these mixtures are frozen,
and put into _charlotte_ molds; the cake is formed in molds a trifle
larger. When the cream is frozen, it is inserted into the cake just
before serving. When freezing the mixture, the whipped cream is not
added until the custard or ingredients with the gelatine are partly
frozen.
BAVARIAN CREAM, WITH VANILLA (_Mrs. Blair_).
Whip one pint of cream to a stiff froth, laying it on a sieve. Boil
another pint of cream or rich milk, with a vanilla bean, and two
table-spoonfuls of sugar, until it is well flavored; then take it off
the fire and add half a box of Nelson’s or Coxe’s gelatine soaked for an
hour in half a cupful of water, in a warm place near the range; when
slightly cooled, stir in the yolks of four eggs well beaten. When it has
become quite cold, and begins to thicken, stir it without ceasing a few
minutes until it is very smooth, then stir in the whipped cream lightly
until it is well mixed. Put it into a mold or molds, and set it on ice,
or in some cool place.