Bavarois

Also known as a Bavarian Cream or crème Bavaroise, this delicate egg-yolk custard, aerated with whipped cream and set with gelatin, is both a dessert in its own right and a key component of others. It can fill a cold charlotte or be molded with paper to stand proudly above the rim of the dish for a chilled “soufflé.” See charlotte; custard; gelatin; and soufflé. Often scented with alcohol and flavored or decorated with fruits, nuts, or chocolate, the bavarois is chilled for four hours to preserve its fluffy lightness while ensuring a firm presentation. The great French chef Carême included bavarois recipes in his early-nineteenth-century cookbooks, though contemporary French sources tend to credit it as a Swiss invention, and the late-nineteenth-century chef Escoffier suggested that it should more properly be called a Muscovite. See carême, marie-antoine and desserts, frozen.