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Strawberry Bavarian Cream
2 tablespoons granulated gelatine 1/4 cup cold water 3/4 cup hot berry juice 1 cup chopped strawberries 1/2 cup powdered sugar 3/4 cup cream, whipped Pink coloring Soften gelatine in cold water and dissolve in boiling hot berry juice drained from berries sweetened and heated. When partially thick, add berries and fold in stiffly whipped cream. Mold and chill in the electric refrigerator. If coloring matter is used, it should be stirred in before gelatine hardens. Serves 6.
A gelatine dessert from the era when a home refrigerator was still a novelty worth naming in the instructions. The whole recipe turns on catching the gelatine at the right stage of setting.
- The hinge: "partially thick"Chill the sweetened juice mixture only until it has the body of raw egg white before adding the berries and cream. Fold too early and the cream floats to the top in a separate layer; too late and the gelatine sets in lumps you cannot fold smooth.
- Gelatine quantityTwo tablespoons of granulated gelatine is about two and a half to three modern envelopes, roughly 17-19 g. That is a firm, sliceable set suited to turning out of a mold; for a spooned dessert in glasses, less would be usual today.
- Berry juiceYou get the 3/4 cup by sugaring the hulled berries, warming them until they give up their liquid, then draining. Fresh berries vary a great deal, so start with more fruit than you think you need and top up with water if the juice falls short.
- Powdered sugarThe term is unstable in American books of this period: it can mean a finely granulated sugar rather than what is now sold as confectioners'. Either dissolves readily in the hot juice, so superfine granulated is a safe substitute.
- CreamThree-quarters of a cup of heavy cream whips to about a cup and a half. The recipe says "stiffly whipped"; stop short of that, at soft-to-medium peaks, since overbeaten cream folds into gelatine in stubborn clots.
- Pink coloringOptional. Heated strawberry juice tends to lose its bright color, which may be why it is offered. Modern gel colorings are far stronger than the liquids of the period, so add a drop at a time.
- Chilling and unmoldingAllow four hours in the refrigerator, or overnight. Rinse the mold in cold water before filling, and dip it briefly in warm water to release.
- YieldServes 6, as stated, from a mold of about one quart capacity.