This Strawberry Bavarian Cream is light, airy, creamy, and full of fresh strawberry flavor. Use it as a cake filling, donut filling, pastry filling, or serve it in glasses for an elegant French-inspired dessert.
Strawberry Bavarian Cream
Calling your inner Julia Child here. Is there anything more luscious than Strawberry Bavarian Cream?
It is airy and creamy at the same time, with a smooth custard base, fresh strawberry flavor, and whipped cream folded in for that dreamy mousse-like texture.
You can serve it by the spoonful in pretty glasses, or use it as a filling for cakes, donuts, cream puffs, pastries, and more.
What Is Bavarian Cream?
Bavarian cream, also called crème bavaroise, is a classic French-style dessert made from a custard base, gelatin, and whipped cream.
The custard gives it richness, the gelatin helps it set, and the whipped cream makes it light and airy. The result is creamy, elegant, and perfect for both fillings and individual desserts.
Why You’ll Love This Strawberry Bavarian Cream
- Light, creamy, and elegant
- Perfect as a cake or pastry filling
- Beautiful served in individual glasses
- Great make-ahead dessert
- Easy to customize with other fruits or flavors
Ways to Use Strawberry Bavarian Cream
This recipe is incredibly versatile. Use it to fill cakes, donuts, cream puffs, tart shells, layered desserts, or parfaits.
You can also pour it into small glasses and serve it topped with strawberry puree, whipped cream, or fresh berries.
Can You Make Bavarian Cream with Other Flavors?
Absolutely. If strawberries are not your thing, try raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, vanilla, chocolate, coffee, chai, or matcha.
The base technique is the same, so once you master it, you can create endless variations.
Make-Ahead Dessert for Parties
Since Bavarian cream needs time to chill and set, it is a perfect make-ahead dessert for parties, holidays, brunches, and get-togethers.
I made this recipe after preparing my Strawberry Charlotte Royale Cake and used the extra cream to fill little glasses. Such a pretty bonus dessert.
Tips for the Best Bavarian Cream
- Do not boil the custard; heat gently until it thickens
- Bloom gelatin properly before adding it
- Let the custard cool before folding in whipped cream
- Fold gently to keep the texture light
- Chill until fully set before serving or using as a filling
When it comes to patisserie, the French truly are geniuses. Their techniques may look intimidating at first, but once you break them down, they are completely doable.
This Strawberry Bavarian Cream is a beautiful place to start.
I hope you can try this delicious Strawberry Bavarian Cream at home. If you do, tag me on Instagram @Livingsweetmoments or use the hashtag #LivingSweet.
Strawberry Bavarian Cream
Ingredients
- 1/2 oz Gelatin
- 1/3 cup Water
- 3 Egg Yolks
- 1/4 Cup Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Milk
- 4 oz Fresh Strawberries
- 1 Cup Heavy Cream
- red food coloring optional
Instructions
- In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over water. Stir and let bloom for 5 minutes.
- In a bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar until pale and slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.
- Warm milk until hot but not boiling.
- Slowly drizzle warm milk into egg yolk mixture while whisking constantly.
- Transfer mixture to a heatproof bowl over simmering water (double boiler). Stir constantly until thick enough to coat a spoon, about 4 to 5 minutes.
- Puree strawberries in a blender or food processor until smooth. Strain if desired.
- Remove custard from heat. Add bloomed gelatin and strawberry puree. Whisk until smooth.
- Chill mixture in refrigerator or freezer for 10 to 15 minutes until cool but not set.
- In a separate bowl, whip heavy cream to stiff peaks.
- Fold whipped cream gently into strawberry mixture in 2 to 3 additions. Add food coloring if desired.
- Spoon into serving glasses or use as a filling for cakes and pastries.
- Refrigerate for at least 4 hours until set.
Notes
- Do not boil the custard or eggs may scramble.
- Fold whipped cream gently to keep the mixture airy.
- Great for cakes, cream puffs, donuts, tart shells, or parfaits.
- Can be made 1 day ahead.
Nutrition
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I love Bavarian cream but my wife is dairy-free so I was looking for an alternative to whipped cream as the foam base. Egg white turned out to be the answer but it took a few iterations to get the additives nailed down:
At first I tried straight gelatin (had to be frozen to be stable so it was impossible to transport to the party), then gelatin plus xanthan (mouth feel was wrong), then agar (too stiff by itself), then agar and locust bean gum (still too stiff), then locust bean gum and xanthan at equal weights which is optimal for forming a gel (still too stiff), then locust bean gum with a little xanthan (close but it did not fully gel), then locust bean gum plus xanthan plus just a little agar (just right). So the end produce looks like this when made with plums:
Plum Mousse
(24 Mar 2018)
Fruit:
500g (1 lb) chopped plums (skin on)
200g water
Thickeners:
6g locust bean gum
2g xanthan gum
1.6g agar
¼ c sugar
1/8 t salt
½ t malic acid
Foam:
2 egg whites (5T pasteurized egg white) at room temperature
½ t malic acid
3T sugar
Measure egg white and into mixing bowl, add malic acid and set in a shallow pan of warm water to bring the whites to room temperature while prepping the strawberries
Put chopped plums into a 2 qt pan; add 200g water. Heat over medium flame to boiling, cook until plums are soft and puree with stick blender; turn off heat.
Combine xanthan, LBG, agar, sugar, salt, and malic acid and sift a couple of times to fully mix.
Slowly pour the thickeners into the blended plums while whisking to fully combine. Turn heat back on and simmer for 2 minutes to fully hydrate, whisking continuously to keep it stirred and prevent burning.
Cover and let sit while whipping the foam (temperature of the plum puree will be >190°F so the gums will be thick but will not begin to gel yet)
Beat egg whites until they form soft peaks, add sugar (1T at a time) and continue beating until it forms stiff peaks. Scrape down the sides a few times.
Dip the pan with the pureed strawberries into a larger pan of cool water and whisk to get the temperature down to ~140°F. Whisk a little of the beaten egg white into the plums (~3/4 c) to get them foamy and to reduce the temperature to ~120°F, then pour the plum mixture over the egg whites and fold together. Pour into a clear glass container and smooth out the top. Wipe the edge of the bowl with a paper towel if necessary. Cover with plastic wrap in direct contact with the top of the mousse and refrigerate until it is fully set (~2 hrs).
Where it says strawberries, think plums.
Wow Doc thank you so much for sharing this valuable info! Glad you were able to find the right combination of ingredients to achieve the perfect “whipped cream” I’ll surely save your recipe for future reference
Hi, Tiffany. I’m so happy I found your recipe (and your site!). I’ve been searching for a raspberry Bavarian cream or custard with disappointing results. Most of the recipes I came across didn’t have any eggs in them which seemed strange and unappealing. I want to use it as a cake filling; can you give me a sense of how solid the resulting product is? I imagine I might need to halve the amount of gelatin to get the proper consistency.
Hi Juliet! The consistency is like a mousse, I used it to stuff my Strawberry Royale cake and it worked perfectly. You can see it here –> https://livingsweetmoments.com/strawberry-charlotte-royale-cake/