Bavarois Recipe with Red Fruit (Bavarian Cream)

An easy Bavarois recipe bursting with red fruit. Simplest to make ahead, this no-bake chilled French dessert is perfect for your valentine or any season. Also known as une crème bavaroise, it's light and creamy with very little cream.

What is a Bavarois Dessert?

According to Larousse Gastronomique, the French culinary dictionary, a Bavarois is a chilled dessert, with 2 ways of making it. It's either made with a custard-based crème anglaise or with a fruit purée set with gelatine and cream.

This is the fruit purée version with gelatine and cream. What I love about this dessert is that it's the quickest Bavarois to make and can be made in advance.

It's also packed with fruit and, even during Winter, it's just as good using a mix of frozen red fruits if you can't get seasonal fresh berries.

A Brief History of the Bavarois

In France, the French celebrity chef, Antonin Carême, made the Bavarois popular in the early 19th century. However, he called it "fromage bavarois" for various recipes. Whether the dessert was Bavarian or not, it's not clear (says Larousse) but French chefs were keen to show off their talents for the Bavarian Wittelbach princes.

Later, chef Auguste Escoffier explains in his Guide Culinaire (1903) that "fromage" was then eliminated, as it was illogical without any cheese in it. From then on, he preferred that Bavarois be called "Moscovite" - again, either custard based or fruit based. Somehow, Bavarois has stuck today.

Easiest Bavarois Recipe for your Valentine

If you're looking to impress and elevate your Valentine's Day plans, nothing says light romance quite like serving a homemade dessert. This Bavarois recipe couldn't be easier as there's no need to temper eggs to make custard etc. and it can easily be made a day in advance.

It's fruity and healthy too so takes pride of place in my Top 30 Valentine's Dessert Ideas.

What's the Difference Between Bavarois, Panna Cotta and Mousse?

A Bavarois is the French answer to the Italian panna cotta (see this white chocolate panna cotta recipe). Although both are similar in that they both are 'cooked creams' that are set together using gelatine, they are different.

The difference between the two desserts is that the panna cotta contains mainly cream and fruit is usually added on top or at least given a separate layer. The Bavarois uses less cream and the fruit is incorporated into the cream.

As for a mousse dessert, it's different to both the above as it's not a cream as such. Instead, to achieve it's characteristic fluffy, airy texture, it's 'set' not by using gelatine but egg whites. See my French chocolate mousse recipe, for example, which is without cream (also on video).

Easy Bavarois Recipe for All Seasons

This recipe is an adaptation of the blackcurrant (cassis) bavarois recipe in the renowned Pierre Hermé's Larousse des Desserts. This cookbook (in French) is my pride and joy prize for winning a local French Pâtisserie competition a few years ago (where I live near Paris). The jury giggled with my original pistachio and wasabi macarons before my first book was published - but I digress! Well I simply reduced the sugar but loved the recipe as it was quicker than dealing with the custard base I use for creamy lemon ice cream, for example.

Ingredients

You'll just need 5 ingredients:

• whipping or heavy cream (at least 30% fat),
• gelatine sheets (or powder: 1 teaspoon for every sheet)
• sugar (I've given the minimum to keep maximum flavour)
• vanilla powder or extract
• Red fruits (a mixture of raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, blackcurrants), fresh or frozen

Around Valentine's Day in winter, our berries are out of season and don't have the best of flavour (and are so expensive!). So use frozen fruit out of season. Defrost them for a couple of hours or for about 3 minutes in the microwave. Then simply puree the fruits and fold them into the bavarois mixture for a burst of natural sweetness.

So, either with fresh or frozen fruits, this Bavarois recipe is ideal for any time of year.

How to Make a Bavarois - Easy Recipe with Fruit

For more detailed recipe steps, see the printable card below.

• Soak 2 gelatine sheets in cold water for 10 minutes.
• Heat the red fruits in a saucepan with the vanilla and sugar for 5-10 minutes then blitz to a purée with a hand blender. Add the gelatine (with any excess water squeezed out). Stir in the cream then pour directly into individual dessert glasses or silicone moulds.
• Set aside to cool then chill in the fridge for 3-4 hours to set.

How to Serve Bavarois

Serving a Bavarois for dessert couldn't be easier, straight up in individual glasses.

To take it to the next level, pour the mixture into silicone moulds or one big mould then, once chilled, turn out on a plate. I use demi-sphere moulds but other shapes will also work well, such as dariole or briochette moulds. If not using silicone non-stick moulds, then butter moulds first.

Serve as is, decorated with edible flowers or seasonal raspberries, blueberries or strawberries. Alternatively, decorate with a white chocolate mousse that has a subtle touch of rose and orange blossom. Here I piped it chilled using a star tip.

For an unforgettably romantic gesture, pair this bavarois with homemade raspberry and rose macarons, a combination that promises a Valentine’s celebration as perfect as a Parisian getaway!

This recipe was first published 12 February 2014 but is now completely updated.
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