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Dessert

Chocolate Blanc Mange

A chilled chocolate dessert made with gelatin, milk, sugar, and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Sterrett, Laura C · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Chocolate and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,404 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Chocolate Blanc Mange

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Soak half a box of gelatin in enough cold water to cover it until dissolved.

  2. Combine four ounces of grated sweet chocolate, one quart of sweet milk, and one cup of sugar.

Make the mousse

  1. Boil the milk, sugar, and chocolate mixture for five minutes.

  2. Add the dissolved gelatin and boil for five more minutes, stirring constantly.

  3. Flavor with vanilla.

  4. Pour the mixture into molds and allow to cool.

Serve

  1. Serve with cream.

  2. If serving for tea, prepare in the morning; if for dinner, prepare the night before.

  3. To make plain blanc mange, omit the chocolate.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

353Calories
9 gProtein
17 gFat
42 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Chocolate1 oz (28g) semisweet155
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49

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

By Sterrett, Laura C. 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. Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Chocolate + milktop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,128 recipes

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

  3. Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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

Gelatin
Sets the liquid mixture so it holds its shape when cooled.
Sweet chocolate
Provides the chocolate flavor and color of the mousse.
Sweet milk
Forms the creamy base that the gelatin sets into.
Sugar
Sweetens the mixture and balances the chocolate.

The step that matters

Adding the dissolved gelatin. Gelatin must be fully dissolved before it goes in, or it can leave specks and uneven setting. Stirring constantly during the second boil keeps the gelatin and milk evenly mixed so the set is smooth.

“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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