Why it works: Milk and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,399 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Tapioca Blanc Mange
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tapioca
Soak half a pound of tapioca in one pint of milk for an hour.
Boil the soaked tapioca until tender.
Add a pinch of salt and sweeten to taste.
Make the custard base
In one teacupful of water, boil until dissolved one ounce of clarified isinglass, or of patent gelatin.
Stir the isinglass or gelatin continually while boiling.
Squeeze the juice of a lemon onto a cupful of fine white sugar.
Stir the sugar into a quart of rich cream and half a pint of Madeira or sherry wine.
When well mixed, add the dissolved isinglass or gelatin.
Stir all together.
Set and serve
Pour the mixture into molds previously wet with cold water.
Set the molds upon ice.
Let them stand until the contents are hard and cold.
Turn it out of the mold.
Serve with strawberry or raspberry jam around it and a little cream.
Serve with sugar and cream or custard sauce.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
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
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Isinglass or gelatin
- Sets the liquid into a firm, sliceable gel as it cools.
- Milk
- Forms the creamy liquid base that the tapioca cooks in and softens.
- Tapioca
- Thickens and gives the blanc mange its soft, tender body when boiled.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel.
- Sugar (in the method)
- Sweetens the dessert and balances its richness.
The step that matters
Boil the isinglass or gelatin until fully dissolved. Undissolved gelatin leaves grainy specks and weak spots, so the set will be uneven. Stirring while it boils helps it dissolve evenly before it is mixed into the cream.
“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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