Various Cream Bavarois

Bavarois à la crème aux parfums variés teaches one of the most useful truths in the pastry canon: a sound base can carry an entire family of desserts. Almond, anisette, filbert, coffee, chocolate, Kirsch, fresh walnut, orange, or violet changes the perfume, not the grammar.

The original formula assumed a pastry brigade and a banquet basin: fourteen yolks, great bowls, one pair of hands watching the custard while another whipped the cream. Here it becomes two-sevenths of Cream Bavarois (No. 2614), because fourteen yolks scale cleanly to four, enough for a 1-quart mold and six generous servings. The brigade quantity was scaffolding, so it goes; the custard cooked à la nappe, gelatin, careful cooling, and whipped-cream fold are the dish, so every one stays. One cook, one stove, one evening.

The one true thing to know before touching the pan is when to fold. A warm custard melts the whipped cream and loses its lift; a custard already set leaves rubbery flecks. Wait until it has cooled and just begun to thicken, then fold promptly. If the edges set before the center, gentle warmth brings them back. Ça se rattrape.