I hope all my CC buddies will give their best input for me. I have a possible wedding cake I will be making in March of next year and it will be a 4 tier stacked cake that will be at an outside venue. The bride is talking about using bavarian cream and strawberries as a filling. I would like to know if this is a filling that will hold up  inside a buttercream cake, outside??? AND....can anyone direct me to the best tasting bavarian cream recipe that they have used successfully?  I would really appreciate any help you all can give me.  p.s. the weather during March in southern california at 5:00pm  will be cool and 60-70 degrees.

60-70 F fits beautifully into the temperature danger zone too. Real Bavarian cream is custard-based and thus it (along with fresh fruit fillings) should be kept refrigerated for food safety. Maximum time outside of refrigeration i.e. temps < 41F is 4 hours. For an indoor wedding where the cake is kept cool and then brought out right before it is served, you could pull it off BUT an OUTDOOR wedding? How long will the cake be sitting out? I wouldn't risk. Some have suggested pre-made commercial bavarian cream, never tried it. There are some jams and preserves that do not require time/temp control. If the bride would consider these options or keeping the cake cool and bringing out for display just before serving, then you're golden.

Given that I grew up on (and now bake) homemade box-mix cakes frosted with dense, non-whipped, hand-mixed, cold-process buttercream (you know, the recipe that's been on the back of the C&H powdered sugar box since before most of us were born), and prefer them to just about every commercially-baked cake I've ever eaten, I will say that Bavarian cream is probably the only element of commercially-baked cakes that I actually like.

And I suspect that a more temperature-tolerant approximation of Bavarian cream could probably be produced. What are the food safety characteristics of, say, vanilla pudding (cooked or instant)? How about those of vanilla pudding made with half-and-half (makes a great pie filling).

Most bakeries use a vanilla pudding + cool whip hybrid as a "Bavarian Cream" filling.  There is a recipe here on CC that will give you exact ratios.  I'd still stay away from real fruit unless you use pectin on it.

Thank you all very much. I will keep all posts at hand. I knew you all would come through! 

Bavarian cream is SO slippery.  Try it in a small 8" cake and after you ice it shake it a bit - as it will shake during delivery and watch that puppy slip around like it was on a skating rink.  And cut strawberries have to be served almost immediately because they weep and start to turn mushy.  So, unless you want to get up at 4:30 on wedding day to decorate a cake on site (because it can't be moved without falling apart), I would use white chocolate instant pudding mixed with heavy whipping cream instead of the bavarian cream and seedless strawberry jam instead of fresh cut strawberries.

Yeah, Denise, that is what I was wondering about in the back of my warped mind! I am afraid of the softness and slippery quality of the cream. So, the white chocolate pudding mix with heavy cream makes better sense to me.  

All this worry is for not.....turns out I won't be making this wedding cake afterall.  I'm going to take this news as good news and maybe dodging a bullet. I believe things happen for a reason, and just maybe I was not meant to make this cake. I'm ok with this. However, I want to give this filling a try anyway just to know how to handle it. Time to experiment on my husband! LOL

You'll be surprised at how this filling "handles you", not you "handling it".  Wish the wedding cake I did it for had been cancelled.  My first and hopefully last wedding cake disaster.  Lost the whole bottom Tier.   The bride and I laugh over it now.  The marriage didn't last 6 months.  She's now looking at husband #2 and her free wedding cake from me.  :-)

Commercial sleeved goods can be stiffened by adding gelatin that has been softened in water.  But that would only be stable while the mixture remains cold.

Before you plan to use commercial stuff, read the ingredients list.  They are shelf stable for a reason.