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Dessert

Blanc Mange

A gelatin dessert made from isinglass, almonds, milk, and water, set in a mold and served with raspberry cream or syllabub.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Mary Randolph (1762–1828) · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and asparagus share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 94 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Blanc Mange

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Break one ounce of isinglass into very small pieces and wash it well.

  2. Pour the isinglass into a pint of boiling water.

  3. The next morning, add a quart of milk and boil until the isinglass is dissolved.

  4. Strain the mixture.

  5. Add two ounces of sweet almonds, blanched and pounded, and sweeten the mixture.

Mold and decorate

  1. Pour the mixture into a mold; when stiff, turn it into a deep dish.

  2. Put raspberry cream around the dessert.

  3. Stick thin slips of blanched almonds all over the blanc mange.

  4. Dress round with syllabub, nicely frothed.

Add colouring

  1. For moulds requiring colouring, mix the yolk of an egg with a little of the blanc mange and fill the grains of corn with it; when set, pour in the white, ensuring it is not warm enough to melt the yellow.

  2. For a bunch of asparagus, colour a little with spinach juice to fill the green tops of the heads.

  3. Use cochineal and alkanet root pounded and dissolved in brandy for good colouring.

Serve

  1. Blanc mange should never be served without raspberry cream or syllabub.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

183Calories
11 gProtein
9 gFat
18 gCarbs

Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 3 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Asparagus6 spears (90g)27
Almond1 almond (1.2g)7
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Mary Randolph (1762–1828). 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. See the original page.

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. Almond + asparagustop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together94 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Milk + asparagustop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together650 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  3. Almond + milktop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,800 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Isinglass
Gelatinous setting agent that firms the milk mixture into a sliceable, molded dessert.
Milk
Forms the creamy body and base liquid of the blanc mange.
Sweet almonds
Adds nutty flavour and a fine, smooth texture to the mixture.

The step that matters

Pour the mixture into the mold when it is nearly set. Isinglass sets as it cools, so pouring too early or letting it chill fully before molding can cause uneven firmness or difficulty releasing the dessert. Keep the mixture warm enough to pour but cool enough to hold its shape.

Swap the almond

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, asparagus):

  1. Beansfits better
  2. Peasfits better
  3. Peanutfits about as well
  4. Almondthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, asparagus. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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.

More blanc-mange recipes

Arrowroot 17Rice 15Almond 13Chocolate 11Fruit 9Irish Moss 9 See all 90 →

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