Skip to main content
Dessert

Arrow-root Blanc-mange

A chocolate arrowroot blanc-mange made by simmering milk, vanilla, cream, arrowroot, and chocolate pudding, then chilled and served with flavored cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

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 ↓

Arrow-root Blanc-mange

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a saucepan, boil 1 quart of milk with a piece of vanilla bean, tightly covered.

  2. In a separate bowl, mix ½ pint of cream with ½ cup of arrow-root and a teacup of chocolate mange until smooth.

Make the custard

  1. Pour the boiling milk into the arrow-root mixture, stir well, and return to the saucepan.

  2. Let it simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Set and serve

  1. Sweeten to your taste and pour into molds to cool.

  2. Serve with cream, flavored to your preference.

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. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Cream + chocolatetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

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 that thickens and sets into a creamy pudding.
Arrow-root
Thickens the mixture as it heats, giving the blanc-mange its firm, smooth set.
Cream
Adds richness and a smooth, velvety mouthfeel.
Chocolate mange
Adds chocolate flavor and color to the pudding.
Vanilla bean
Adds a warm, fragrant vanilla aroma to the milk.

The step that matters

Combine the boiling milk with the arrow-root mixture. Arrow-root thickens only as it heats, so stirring well while pouring the boiling milk in helps the starch disperse evenly and avoids lumps. The mixture then needs to simmer so the starch fully thickens.

“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.

You might also like

Chocolate CreamChocolate Cream171 recipesVanilla Ice CreamVanilla Ice Cream108 recipesChocolate CookiesChocolate Cookies76 recipesChocolate FudgeChocolate Fudge55 recipes