Hessian cream with sour cherries

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 220 ml apple cider
• 200 ml milk
• 1 vanilla pod(s), pulp
• 100 g sugar
• 5 egg yolks (size M or 4 eggs size L)
• 4 sheets of gelatin
• Water for soaking
• 330 ml cream
• 1 jar sour cherries
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1 dashes lemon juice

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 4 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 45 minutes; Total time approx. 6 hours 15 minutes

Hessian apple wine (Äppelwoi) cream based on a “Bavarian cream”

Whip the cream until stiff peaks form and refrigerate. Beat the egg yolks and sugar until frothy. Heat the cider, milk, and scraped vanilla pod in a saucepan, then stir into the egg yolk and sugar mixture. Soften the gelatin in the water. Set up a double boiler, place the egg custard on top of the double boiler (this works best with a metal bowl), heat it up while stirring, and stir until creamy, until the cream can be pulled out into a rose shape. Squeeze out the gelatin and stir it leaf by leaf into the hot mixture to dissolve. Now place the bowl in a cold water bath and stir until it cools. You don’t have to wait until it starts to set; it just shouldn’t be so warm that the cream collapses when mixed. Then stir in the cream. This works best if you quickly stir in about 1/4 of the whipped cream first, then carefully fold in the rest to keep the mixture nice and fluffy. Pour into single-serve jars and refrigerate. This amount makes 6 jars plus one test portion. Collect the cherry juice, put the cherries in a saucepan, and heat. Add some of the cherry juice and a little lemon juice (depending on how runny you want the cherries). Mix the cornstarch with the cold, reserved juice until smooth and add to the cherries a spoonful at a time. The ratio is a matter of taste and depends on the desired consistency. Be sure to boil for at least 2 minutes so that you can no longer taste the starch. Refrigerate. After about 4 hours, the Hessian cream will be nice and cold and firm, then add the cherries. You can also prepare it the day before; it won’t hurt.