Simple to make, this entirely-from-scratch Bavarian cream is a perfect filling for cakes, pies, tarts, cream puffs, or even a spoon. ;)

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The story

Weirdly, I’ve made a lot of custard this holiday season. A lot a lot. Like, save some eggs for the rest of us and do you need help a lot. This was my very last custard-based dessert for the season, made for a New Year’s Eve party, and by the time I made it I was lazy and so tired of tempering stupid eggs. Yet it came together easily and beautifully and warmed my nearing-Grinch-status heart.

This filling was discovered during my (ongoing) champagne cake journey. A couple years ago, my husband wanted to make a pink champagne cake for his grandmother’s 80th birthday. So I researched and chose blindly from the myriad recipes out there. Afterward, I found out it wasn’t the pink champagne cake he had wanted to make. No, he was talking about a cake at a local grocery store’s bakery. A cake that’s only available between Christmas and New Year’s Day. A cake I’d never had or seen before.

Yeah, super specific.

This year, I lucked out and got to have some. And, even more fortunately, I knew what kind of “champagne” cake this was. Not simply a cake with champagne in it. It’s actually quite similar to a cake at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. And somewhere in all my research—don’t ask me where, cause I can’t find it anymore—I got the impression that this is a more old-fashioned, traditional champagne cake, named such because it’s made to pair well with champagne.

It’s simply a vanilla cake with a hint of champagne flavor, Bavarian cream filling, whipped cream frosting, and pink white chocolate shavings to top it all off.

Oh, and fun fact: it was invented in America, not Bavaria.

While I’m still perfecting the actual cake part of this cake (giant sigh and eye roll here), the filling I adapted from Food Network was ah-mazing. Light, creamy, not too sweet—it can work as it’s own little dessert or to fill just about anything.

Tips for this dessert

Make custard ahead of time

My recipe is easier (and lazier) than most, but at least it’s mostly authentic! I loved being able to put the custard in the fridge and go be a mom for a few hours. I took my daughter on a walk to Whole Foods while the Bavarian cream custard chilled. We’re so bougie.

Completely cover surface before chilling

You want your plastic wrap to touch the surface of the custard and to cover it completely. This prevents a skin from forming. It’s gross and won’t smooth out with whisking.

Whip cooled custard

To prevent lumps when folding the whipped cream in, you want your custard as smooth as possible. Don’t skimp on the “whisk vigorously” step. I did the first time I made it, then I had to vigorously whisk the finished product. It lost a good deal of volume and was a little too thick.

Whip your cream to stiff peaks

Stiff peaks take practice to master. I always go for texture, if that makes sense? I want to go past the smooth stage to where I could pipe it. I’m okay with air holes, since I know they’ll disappear when I use the whipped cream. And since you’re folding this one into a fairly thick custard, you want whipped cream that can hold its ground. Yeah, sometimes I get militant with my baking…

Double recipe for a thicker filling or for pies/tarts

This recipe filled an 8” cake split into 4 layers, or 3 layers of filling. I was concerned about the cake sliding apart (it didn’t), so I kept the filling about 1/4 inch thick. It was delicious, but my inspiration cake had one thick layer of Bavarian cream, at least 1/2 inch thick. In the future, I might increase this recipe so I can have even more layers of lots of fluffy cream!

For a pie or tart—where you generally have other fillings like fruit or whipped cream—this recipe would give you a nice thin layer almost an inch thick. If you want more, increase accordingly.

Adjust sugar or whipped cream per your taste

This filling is smooth, not too sweet, and subtly custard-y. If you want a fluffier filling or prefer sweeter desserts, you can add more whipped cream or some powdered sugar to the heavy cream before you whip it. You can also do more gelatin for a sturdier filling if your cake is heavy.

Cook custard until thickened*

The whole “coats the back of a spoon” thing made little sense to me until I saw a kid explain it on Kid’s Baking Championship. #noshame Basically, you want to dip the back of a spoon in, run your finger through it, and be sure a clear line was wiped clean and not filled in by the custard and the surrounding custard isn’t watery and dripping away. You want a little staying power without it coating the spoon like frosting.

Bavarian Cream Filling

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cook time: 15 minutes
chill time: 2 hours (or so)
total time: 2 hours, 15 minutes

Servings: roughly 1 ½ cups (depending how much volume you retain while folding at the end)

Ingredients:

1 ½ teaspoons powdered gelatin
1 ½ tablespoons milk (whole is best)
3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar
1 ¼ cups heavy whipping cream, separated
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (not imitation)

Instructions:

Bloom gelatin by sprinkling over milk in a small prep bowl. Whisk and set aside. (Fun fact: using milk instead of water works just as well without compromising the creamy texture of the filling.)
In a small mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar vigorously for about 30 seconds, until slightly frothy with some bubbles. Set on counter near the stove so it’s within easy reach once your cream heats up—you’ll want to work quickly here.
In a small saucepan, heat ¾ cup heavy cream and vanilla over medium-low heat, stirring frequently with a rubber spatula, until steaming and small bubbles begin to form (should only take a few minutes). Turn burner down to low. Be sure to return remaining ½ cup heavy cream to the fridge so it’s very well-chilled for the final step.
Temper the eggs by slowly pouring the milk into them, whisking constantly and vigorously to avoid scrambling the eggs. I like to splash a little every couple seconds at the beginning then slowly speed up to a steady trickle. Return egg mixture to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes. It should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.* Be sure to scrape the bottom and corners of the pan as you stir so nothing burns and scrambled down there.
Once the custard has thickened, pour bloomed gelatin into it and stir for one minute, until gelatin has fully dissolved. Remove from heat and stir for a minute or so at room temperature before pouring it into a small bowl. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the custard so it doesn’t form a skin and refrigerate for at least two hours, until well-chilled. At this point you can set a medium mixing bowl and wire whisk or beaters (or stand mixer bowl and whisk attachment—but mine is so large it doesn’t do well with this small amount of cream) along with the remaining cream into the fridge to ensure everything is very well-chilled for finishing the Bavarian cream.
Once the custard has chilled, whisk it to fluff it up (it’s okay if it got a little thick while chilling). Pour ½ cup well-chilled heavy cream into a chilled bowl and whisk or beat on high until stiff peaks form. Be sure you’ve gone past the soft peak, pretty dollops and smooth edges phase. Gently fold whipped cream into custard, until no lumps remain. If you have to stir more vigorously to get out any lumps, use a whisk—but you may lose some volume in doing so.
Use as a cake or tart filling or pour into ramekins and top with berries. Or eat with a spoon, like I did to the leftovers. If using as a cake filling, be sure to build a dam by piping a ring of frosting along the edge of the cake first.

Enjoy!

Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.