Chocolate Blancmange
Ingredients
Directions
Make the blancmange
Combine 1/2 pint of milk, 1 teaspoonful N.F. cocoa, 1 oz. of half cornflour, fine wheatmeal, sugar, and vanilla essence to taste.
Bring the milk to a boil.
Mix cocoa, flour, and wheatmeal, and smooth them with a little water.
Stir the mixture into the boiling milk, sweeten and flavour, keep stirring, and allow to cook for 5 minutes.
Set and serve
Pour into a wetted mould, and allow to get cold.
Turn out, and serve.
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
What each ingredient does
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base and gives the blancmange its creamy body and smooth texture.
- Cocoa (in the method)
- Supplies the chocolate flavour and brown colour.
- Cornflour
- Swells when heated with liquid, thickening the mixture so it sets firm when cooled.
The step that matters
Smooth the cornflour and cocoa, then stir into boiling milk. Cornflour clumps if added dry or unevenly. Smoothing it with a little cold water first lets the starch disperse. Constant stirring while it cooks keeps it smooth and lets the starch swell fully to thicken the mixture.
“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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