Bavarian Cream: Bayerische Creme

This famous dessert was seemingly developed in France centuries ago, where apparently it was invented for the purpose of honoring the German noble family the Wittelsbachs, as King Charles VI of France was married to Isabeau (known in German as Elisabeth) of Bavaria, who was from the House of Wittelsbach; thus, she was the queen of France. Over the centuries, Wittelsbach family members were involved in many regions of Europe, including England/Britain, as King George I was of the House of Hanover, but his mother was a Wittelsbach. Ludwig IV (Louis) was German emperor (Holy Roman Emperor) in the 1300s and Karl VII (Charles) was German emperor in the mid 1700s (note: Ludwig IV was the great grandfather of Elisabeth/Isabeau of Bavaria mentioned above). The Wittelsbach family's center of power has always been in Bavaria, but branches settled elsewhere due to marriages. Wittelsbach family members have ruled in various capacities in many places over the centuries: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Bavaria, the Palatinate (Germany), Greece, part of the Netherlands, Bohemia, the Archbishopric and Electorate of Cologne. Over time, the strong association of this dessert with Bavaria has made it a German dessert, rather than French, as it originally was.

 

Ingredients (4 to 5 servings):

 

1 cup milk

3 egg yolks

6 tablespoons sugar

1 packet unflavored gelatin in 5 tablespoons cold water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup heavy cream

 

In a heavy bottom sauce pan, heat the milk to a simmer. Mix the yolks and sugar together in a cup or small bowl. Dissolve the gelatin in water in another cup. Add the vanilla extract to the hot milk, whisk 2 tablespoons of hot milk into the egg mixture, then whisk in 2 more tablespoons of hot milk (this will help prevent you from serving scrambled eggs rather than Bavarian Creme). Turn the heat to low and whisk the egg mixture into the remaining milk in the sauce pan, then continue to whisk as the custard heats up (do not boil), then whisk in the gelatin. When thickened, remove from the heat and let it cool, whip the heavy cream until thick, then when the custard has cooled substantially, fold in the whipped cream, distribute to individual serving dishes, or put the cream into molds, refrigerate for at least a couple of hours or overnight. Serve in the dishes or unmold the cream and the add topping of your choice, like fruit sauce or chocolate sauce.

 

Bavarian Cream topped with dark sweet cherry compote ...

Topped with Lemon Curd ...

WORD HISTORY:

Swarm-This word is related to "swirl," a word from Germanic. "Swarm" goes back to Indo European "swer/suer," which meant, "to buzz;" and was likely used for bees and other insects. This gave Old Germanic "swarmaz," meaning, "a large moving group of buzzing and humming insects," and also, "a commotion," which gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "swearm," with the buzzing and humming insect meaning. This then became "swarm," where it has remained for hundreds of years. The other Germanic languages have: German has "Schwarm," Low German has "Swarm" (both German and Low German nouns are capitalized), Dutch has "zwerm," West Frisian has "swarm/swaarm," Danish has "sværm," Norwegian has "sverm," Icelandic has "sweimur," Swedish has "svärm."

 

The verb form was derived from the noun in the 1300s meaning, "for insects, often bees, to leave one living space to go to another." The figurative usage has been common as, "to have a large group converge on an area," as in: "The fans swarmed over the plane as the victorious team returned home," or, "Police swarmed over the area after the bank was robbed." Other verb examples in Germanic: German has "schwärmen," Dutch has "zwermen," Swedish has "svärma."