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Dessert

Chocolate Blanc Mange

A layered chocolate blanc dessert made with milk, egg whites, cornstarch, vanilla, sugar, and chocolate.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Chocolate Blanc Mange

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Dissolve the cornstarch in a little cold milk.

  2. Heat the remaining milk in a double boiler.

  3. Add the sugar to the milk until scalded.

  4. Stir in the cornstarch.

  5. Cook over direct heat until thickened.

  6. Return the mixture to the double boiler.

  7. Cook for 30 minutes.

Add egg whites and chocolate

  1. Remove from heat.

  2. Add vanilla and beaten egg whites.

  3. In a saucepan, combine one-third of the mixture with melted chocolate.

  4. Cook the chocolate mixture for 1 minute.

Layer and serve

  1. In a cylindrical mold, layer the white mixture.

  2. Layer the chocolate mixture.

  3. Finish with the remaining white mixture, smoothing each layer.

  4. Serve with whipped cream and optional fruit juice as a sauce.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Vanilla + chocolatetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Vanilla + sugartop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,128 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

Vanilla and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard and gives the mousse its body and moisture.
Egg whites
Whipped into foam, they lighten the mousse and give it an airy structure as it sets.
Cornstarch
Swells when heated in the milk, thickening the custard so it holds its shape.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and balances the bitterness of the chocolate.
Chocolate
Provides the main flavor and fat, and firms up as the mousse cools.

The step that matters

Cook over direct heat until thickened. Cornstarch thickens only as its granules swell with heat. Stir constantly to prevent lumps and scorching on the direct heat, which would spoil the smooth texture.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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