Bavarois aux Framboises

a classic of the French cold kitchen: sieved raspberry purée folded into a light custard and whipped cream, set with gelatine into a trembling moulded cream turned out to serve with fresh berries

Origin: France

From the journey of Raspberry.

The bavarois, or Bavarian cream, is one of the foundation stones of the French cold-dessert repertoire: a crème anglaise lightened with whipped cream and set with a little gelatine into a soft, trembling cream that is moulded and turned out. It entered the grand French kitchen in the nineteenth century, codified by Carême and later Escoffier, and lent itself to endless flavourings, of which the fruit bavarois, and the raspberry above all, is among the most beloved. The raspberry version marries the fruit's clean, sharp brightness to the richness of custard and cream, its scarlet purée colouring the whole a soft rose; sieved free of its seeds, the purée gives pure raspberry flavour without grit. The bavarois belongs to the world of the dressed table and the dinner à la française, unmoulded onto a serving plate and surrounded with fresh raspberries and perhaps a pool of coulis, a dessert of poise and lightness that shows the raspberry at its most refined. It is the ancestor of the charlotte russe, in which the same cream is set inside a case of sponge fingers, and of countless modern mousse-cakes.

Ingredients

Purée

  • 400 g raspberries, plus extra to serve
  • 60 g caster sugar
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice

Bavarois

  • 4 leaves gelatine (or 7 g powdered)
  • 250 ml whole milk
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 60 g caster sugar
  • 300 ml double cream

To Assemble

  • 1 neutral oil, for the mould

Method

  1. Blitz the raspberries with the 60 g sugar and the lemon juice to a purée, then pass through a fine sieve to remove the seeds. You should have about 300 ml of smooth purée. Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water until soft.
  2. Make the custard: heat the milk until steaming. Whisk the yolks with the 60 g sugar until pale, pour the hot milk over, whisking, then return to the pan and cook over a low heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 80°C). Do not let it boil.
  3. Off the heat, squeeze out the gelatine and stir it into the hot custard until fully dissolved. Stir in the raspberry purée. Set the bowl over iced water and stir now and then until the mixture is cold and just beginning to thicken.
  4. Whip the double cream to soft peaks and fold it gently into the thickening raspberry custard in two or three additions, keeping the mixture light.
  5. Lightly oil a 1-litre mould (or six individual moulds), pour in the mixture, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight, until fully set. To turn out, dip the mould briefly in hot water, invert onto a plate, and lift away. Serve surrounded with fresh raspberries.

Notes

The bavarois can be set in a ring or loaf mould, or in a charlotte mould lined with sponge fingers to make a charlotte aux framboises. Powdered gelatine may be used in place of leaves: sprinkle it over a few tablespoons of cold water, let it swell, then stir into the hot custard. For a lighter set, reduce the gelatine slightly, though the cream will be harder to unmould. Take care not to over-set: too much gelatine gives a rubbery, bouncy cream rather than the soft, trembling texture that is the mark of a good bavarois.

The Gastrographer

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