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Dessert

Coffee Blanc-mange

A gelatin dessert made with milk, coffee, chocolate, and gelatin, layered and chilled.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Margaret Brown · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Coffee and chocolate are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,497 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells buttery, creamy. The science ↓

Coffee Blanc-mange

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the coffee layer

  1. Divide one package of gelatin in half.

  2. Take 1 pint of milk and 1/2 pint of coffee and bring to a boil.

  3. Melt one half of the gelatin in a little milk.

  4. Stir the melted gelatin into the boiled milk.

Make the chocolate layer

  1. Take 3 half pints of milk, stir in 2 tablespoonfuls of chocolate, and boil.

  2. Melt the remaining half of the gelatin in a little milk.

  3. Stir the melted gelatin into the chocolate mixture.

  4. Let the mixture cool before putting into the mold.

Layer and serve

  1. Pour the first portion into the mold, then pour the second portion on top.

  2. Set aside to cool.

  3. Serve with whipped cream.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

304Calories
9 gProtein
17 gFat
29 gCarbs

Counts 2 of 3 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 2 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Chocolate1 oz (28g) semisweet155
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Coffeenot 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 Margaret Brown. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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. Coffee + chocolatetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,497 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (buttery, creamy).

  2. Milk + coffeetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,202 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

  3. Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,128 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Gelatin
Sets the milk and coffee mixtures into a firm, sliceable blancmange.
Milk
Forms the creamy body of both layers and adds richness.
Coffee
Provides the coffee flavour and a slightly bitter aroma to the first layer.
Chocolate
Adds cocoa flavour and deepens the colour of the second layer.

The step that matters

Let the mixture cool before putting into the mold.. Gelatin sets as the mixture cools, so pouring while it is still very hot can thin the layers and cause them to blend. Letting it cool slightly keeps the two portions distinct.

“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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