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Strawberry Bavarian Cream
Line a mould with large, fresh strawberries cut in halves, fill with Charlotte Russe mixture.
Two lines in the original, because it depends entirely on the Charlotte Russe recipe printed nearby: a gelatine-set whipped cream, flavoured with vanilla, turned out of a mould. What follows is what that shorthand assumes you already know.
- Find the base recipe firstThis is a variation, not a standalone recipe. You need the book's own Charlotte Russe filling and whatever it specifies; here the lady fingers are simply replaced by strawberries.
- "Box" of gelatinePeriod recipes measure gelatine by fractions of a box, which held roughly 1 oz, about four of today's ¼ oz envelopes. A third of a box would be something like 2½ to 3 teaspoons of granulated gelatine. Take the actual quantity from the book's Charlotte Russe recipe rather than assuming one.
- Bloom and temperatureSoak the gelatine in cold liquid before dissolving it, and let the dissolved mixture cool until it just begins to thicken at the edges before folding in the whipped cream. Fold it in warm and the cream deflates into a puddle; let it set too far and you get gelatine lumps through the finished dessert.
- Lining the mouldChill the mould thoroughly and press the halved berries cut side against the metal so they stay flat and show clearly when unmoulded. A very thin layer of plain sweetened gelatine, set first, holds them in place far more reliably than the cream does.
- Berry moisture is the real riskCut strawberries weep, and that juice thins the gelatine where it touches. Blot the cut faces dry, and use fully ripe but firm berries rather than soft ones. Many strawberries sold today are likely to be larger than the recipe assumes; halve or quarter them so the pieces sit flush.
- Chilling and unmouldingFour hours in the refrigerator is a minimum, overnight is better. To turn it out, dip the mould in warm water for a few seconds, loosen the edge, and invert onto a chilled plate.
- YieldA quart mould serves six to eight. Serve within a few hours of unmoulding — gelatine-set cream weeps as it sits, and the strawberries darken.
Bavarian cream — crème bavaroise in French kitchen usage — is a custard or sweetened cream stiffened with gelatine and lightened with whipped cream; the association with Bavaria is traditional rather than documented, and nineteenth-century cooks used the name loosely for almost any moulded cold cream. Its appearance as a one-line variation in this book says a good deal about the 1890s household: gelatine had recently become a cheap, reliable, pre-clarified pantry item sold in boxed sheets and granules, and fewer cooks had reason to spend a day boiling calves' feet to extract their own. That shift is what gradually moved moulded creams and jellies from the professional confectioner's bench toward the ordinary supper table, and it is why the author could assume a reader would recognise the Charlotte Russe mixture and simply swap the lining.