A sumptuous custard-like dessert, bavarian cream can arrive to table garnished with berries or as a filling in cakes and pastries. You cook rich and decadent ingredients, such as heavy cream, whole milk, sugar, egg yolks and fresh vanilla beans, and then combine them with whipped cream to create a consistency akin to vanilla pudding. Chilled and served cold, the tempting treat can make it tough to wait until dessert is on the table before devouring every last spoonful.

Split a whole vanilla bean open; hold the bean down on a cutting board for ease and safety. Run a small, sharp paring knife down the center of the bean; keep cutting until the pod splits in two the long way.

Scrape out the seeds with the dull edge of the paring knife. Place the seeds in a food grinder and grind them to a fine powder. Put the vanilla bean pod and the ground seeds in a saucepan and cover with heavy cream. Bring the mixture to a boil and then remove from heat; allow the vanilla bean to soak in the cream for 30 to 60 minutes.

Discard the pod and place the cream over heat to warm it up again. Add sugar and egg yolks to the cream, in the ratio of 1 tablespoon of sugar to 1 egg yolk. Whisk the ingredients together until fully blended. Warm the mixture until it develops a thick, creamy texture.

Combine 3 parts milk to 1 part gelatin and stir together. Add the milk and gelatin to the cream. Mix until all ingredients are fully blended. Remove from heat and pour the contents into a mixing bowl.

Place ice and water into a large bowl to make an ice bath. Put the bowl with the cream mixture into the ice bath and allow it to cool to room temperature.

Fold whipped cream into the cream mixture, using equal parts whipped cream to heavy cream. Place the Bavarian cream in the refrigerator and allow it to chill for approximately four hours.