[2] Bavarian Cream, or crème bavarois, is prepared in a mold and unmolded onto a serving plate (photo © Massimiliano Pieraccini | iStock Photo).

[3] This layered raspberry bavarois is, from top down, raspberry bavaroise, raspberry compote, and coconut dacquoise, atop a crunchy almond cookie crust (photo © Detoni).

November 27th is National Bavarian Cream Pie Day. Before there was Bavarian Cream Pie, there was crème bavarois—Bavarian Cream, an early 19th century dessert credited to the great chef, Marie-Antoine Carême (photo #2). It was called bavarois, for short.

Bavarian cream is a dessert consisting of milk thickened with eggs and gelatin, into which whipped cream is folded. The mixture sets up in a cold mold, is chilled, and unmolded for serving.

It can also be made with crème anglaise (a pourable custard sauce) combined with gelatin, beaten egg whites, and lightly whipped cream (see the different types of custard).

The cream mixture can be flavored with vanilla, fruit purée, chocolate, liqueur, etc. It is then poured into a decorative or plain.

Photo #2 is an example of a Bavarian cream in a plain mold, but is handsome nonetheless.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF BAVARIAN CREAM PIE

While the connection to Bavaria is obscure, Marie-Antoine Carême (1784-1833) created great dinners for royalty and others at the top of society, so the dessert may well have been created to honor guests from Bavaria.

As with custard and other foods originally served in a dish, at a point lost in history, some chef poured the custard cream* into a pie crust to create Bavarian Cream Pie.

Bavarian Cream Pie is one of a variety of cream pies. Simply stated, the cream—be it banana cream, Bavarian cream, chocolate cream, coconut cream, whipped cream, etc.—is added to a pie shell.

The pie can be served unadorned, topped with shaved chocolate or chocolate sauce, or, as in two of the photos, topped with fresh fruit.

Note that not everything called “Bavarian cream” is the real deal.

Real Bavarian cream does not pipe smoothly because of its gelatin content. In the U.S., some products called “Bavarian cream” pie, and certainly Bavarian cream doughnuts, are actually filled with a version of a crème pâtissière (pastry cream).

Pastry cream is not the same as Bavarian cream. Pastry cream uses different ingredients such as butter, cornstarch and milk instead of gelatin, heavy cream, and egg yolks. Bavarian cream is much richer with more depth of flavor than pastry cream.

So the pastry cream versions are “faux” Bavarian Cream Pie. But you may enjoy them all the same.
 
 
CREAM VS. CREME: THE DIFFERENCE

What’s the difference between creme and cream? Why do some people write “creme pie” instead of “creme pie?”

Crème, pronounced KREHM, is the French word for cream. In America, French recipes were served at the tables of the wealthy, many of whom knew how to pronounce French properly.

As these recipes entered the mainstream, people who did not know French began to pronounce crème (KREHM) as cream (KREEM). Some people dispensed with the accent mark, to provide a mashup of French and English, and either became acceptable.

But to display your erudition, when discussing a French dish, e.g. Crème Brûlée, use crème; when discussing an American dish, e.g. Chocolate Cream Pie, use cream.
 
 
Check out the different types of pie in our delicious Pie Glossary.
 
 
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*Bavarian cream is not the same as custard. It is a lightened up custard cream.

There are significantly more than one hundred small companies producing pickles all across this great land of ours. They’re small batch, hand packed and much tastier than mass-produced pickles.

For most of us, pickles have been a commodity condiment: inexpensive, readily available, and something we didn’t spend a lot of time pondering. While most of us familiar with the big national brands—Vlasic, Claussen and Mt. Olive, for example—how many of us can name a small, local pickle producer?

Take a look at our review of almost 50 artisan pickle brands. You’re sure to find stocking stuffers, host and hostess gifts, teacher gifts and anything else you need.

There are sweet pickles and spicy pickles, pickle chips and spears.

And the best news: pickles are low in calories, a guilt-free gift.

This radish and beet chutney from LoveBeets.com is delicious with turkey sandwiches plus cheese, cold meats, on a baked potato or with sausages.

It’s also a nice gift for your Thanksgiving host, who in turn may send you home with some leftover turkey. The recipe makes enough for 6 gifts or more, depending on the size of the jar.

RECIPE: RADISH & BEET CHUTNEY

Ingredients For Approximately 4.5 Pounds Of Chutney

Yummy beet and radish chutney. Photo courtesy LoveBeets.com.

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE all of the ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until the beets are cooked and the juices have thickened.

2. SPOON chutney it into sterilized jars* and seal the lids while it’s still hot. Use immediately, or keep, refrigerated, for up to 6 weeks. The flavor will improve if stored for a few weeks.
Find more beet recipes at LoveBeets.com.

 
*To sterilize jars, run them through the hottest cycle in your dishwasher or boil in a pan of water for 10 minutes.

  

A “turkey dinner sandwich” (photo © J. Java | Fotolia).

If you’re cooking Thanksgiving dinner, the odds are that you’re going to have lots of leftovers.

Some of them are easy to deal with: Just store cranberry sauce, potatoes and gravy in airtight containers and use them up within the week.

But what about the bird?

The USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline (1.800.535.4555) wants you to have these tips for storing turkey leftovers.

 
 
HOW TO USE LEFTOVER TURKEY

Our two favorite uses are a “turkey dinner sandwich”—with stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce—and a turkey BLT with cranberry mayonnaise (mix cranberry sauce into mayo). For a bit more work, we enjoy a turkey pot pie.

Frozen cooked turkey can be added to casseroles, soups, pastas and other cooked dishes.

Here’s a recipe from De Cecco pasta, which uses its angel hair nests to create a special dish with either refrigerated or frozen-and-thawed cooked turkey. If you can’t find angel hair nests, you can use regular angel hair, linguine or spaghetti and use tongs to create nest-like shapes.

Prep time is 25 minutes; total time is 45 minutes.

Ingredients For 8 Servings

1. CUT cooked, skinless turkey into bite-size pieces or shreds; set aside.

2. ADD 1 tablespoon oil to skillet. Reduce heat to medium, and add leeks. Cook 7 minutes or until tender-crisp, stirring frequently. Add water, 1/2 cup green onions and wine; cook, covered, 10 minutes or until leeks are soft. Transfer mixture to a blender. Cover and process until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in remaining 3 tablespoons of oil. Cover and keep warm.

3. BRING a large pot of salted water to a boil. Working in 3 batches, gently lower pasta into boiling water. Cook 6 minutes or until al dente. Carefully remove pasta with a large slotted spoon, gently shaking to remove excess liquid. Repeat procedure with remaining pasta.

4. ARRANGE cooked pasta nests on a large rimmed platter. Spoon sauce evenly over each nest. Sprinkle evenly with Parmesan cheese, and top with turkey. Garnish with remaining 1/4 cup green onions.
 
 
ABOUT DE CECCO PASTA

Founded in 1886 by the De Cecco brothers in the Abruzzo region of central Italy, De Cecco makes 160 pasta varieties using only the heart of durum wheat to produce premium semolina. The water mixed with the flour is from a mountain spring. The semolina dough is extruded through bronze dies and the pasta is dried very slowly at low temperature.

The company, which is the world’s third largest manufacturer of pasta, was recently inducted to the Italian Trade Commission’s Hall of Fame. Find more recipes at DeCeccoUSA.com.

Here’s a fun project that adults and kids alike will enjoy: replacing the holiday gingerbread house with with a mini house of cookies, gummy bears and other candies.

We’ve developed an adult fascination with gummy candies—especially since we discovered the sugar free*, guilt-free line.

The first gummy candies, Gummi Bears, were produced in 1922 by Haribo, a Bonn, Germany, confectioner. Founder Hans Riegel invented the Dancing Bear, a fruit gum made in the shape of a bear. In 1967 the Dancing Bears became Gummi Bears, and spawned an entire zoo of gummi animals.

Worms are not zoo creatures, however, and Haribo did not invent the Gummi Worm. Gummi Worms were introduced by another German gummi candy manufacturer, Trolli (named for forest trolls), in 1981. America choose the more familiar spelling, Gummy Worms. National Gummy Worm Day is July 15th; there’s no National Gummy Bear Day—yet. (Earth to Haribo: What’s up?)

Instead of constructing an elaborate ginger bread house, how about a gingerbread crèche?

All you need are

Here’s the complete recipe.

Beyond snacking, bring out the gummies for parties:

 
MORE HOLIDAY GUMMY USES

 
WHAT’S IN GUMMY CANDY?

Haribo Gummies are made from corn syrup, sugar, gelatin, dextrose, citric acid, corn starch, artificial and natural flavors, fractionated coconut oil, carnauba wax, beeswax coating, artificial colors Yellow 5, Red 40, Blue 1. Trolli ingredients are similar.

If you’re a vegetarian, vegan or all-natural food consumer, there’s Goody Good Stuff, launched in 2010. This all-natural gummy candy line is made with a plant derived bio-gum technology: no gelatin, no carnauba or beeswax. There are no artificial colors or flavors. You can buy it on Amazon.com.

There are also Goody Good Stuff gummy fruits, sour fruits and cola bottles.