Why it works: Almond and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,514 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Blanc-mange
Ingredients
Directions
Make the isinglass blancmange
Put an ounce of isinglass into a pan.
Pour on as much rose water as will cover the isinglass.
Set the pan on hot coals to dissolve the isinglass.
Blanch a quarter of a pound of shelled almonds, half sweet and half bitter.
Beat the almonds to a paste in a mortar, one at a time, moistening them with a little rose water.
Stir the almonds by degrees into a quart of cream, alternately with half a pound of powdered white sugar.
Add a large tea-spoonful of beaten mace.
Put in the melted isinglass and stir the whole very hard.
Put it into a porcelain skillet and boil it fast for a quarter of an hour.
Strain it into a pitcher.
Pour it into moulds that have first been wetted with cold water.
Let it stand in a cool place undisturbed until it has entirely congealed, about five hours.
Wrap a cloth dipped in hot water round the moulds.
Loosen the blanc-mange round the edges with a knife.
Turn it out into glass dishes.
Instead of a figure-mould, you may set it to congeal in tea-cups or wine glasses.
Make the carrageen blancmange
Boil the milk with the almonds, cinnamon, mace and nutmeg for half an hour in a closed pan over hot coals.
Wash the carrageen through two or three cold waters, drain it well, and shake the water from the sprigs.
Add the carrageen to the pint and a half of cold milk.
Stir the boiled milk into the carrageen mixture, adding gradually half a pound of powdered sugar.
Keep the mixture boiling hard for five minutes from the time it comes to a boil.
Strain it into a pitcher and pour into moulds or cups wetted with cold water.
Leave it undisturbed until it congeals.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 9 of 11 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Orange | 1 medium (131g) | 62 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Wine | 2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml) | 25 |
| Nutmeg | 1 tsp ground (2.2g) | 12 |
| Almond | 1 almond (1.2g) | 7 |
| Cinnamon | 1 tsp ground (2.6g) | 6 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
| Mace | 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.
-
Almond + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,514 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Cinnamon + orangetop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,437 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Almond + orangetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,125 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Cinnamon + macetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Isinglass
- Dissolved and chilled, it sets the liquid into a firm, wobbly gel.
- Carrageen
- A seaweed that gels the milk as it cools, giving the blancmange its set.
- Almonds
- Pounded into a paste, they add nutty flavour and a smooth, creamy body.
- Cream
- Adds richness and fat, giving a softer, silkier texture to the set dessert.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the gelling agent sets into a creamy dessert.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the dessert and balances the bitterness of the almonds and mace.
The step that matters
Keep the carrageen mixture boiling hard for five minutes. Carrageen must be fully boiled to release its gelling compounds. If it is not boiled long enough, the dessert may fail to set firmly.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, cream, sugar, milk, cinnamon, white wine, orange):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Clovefits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against almond, cream, sugar, milk, cinnamon, white wine, orange. 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 blancmange recipes
You might also like
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Orange Cream Rice Pudding121 recipes
Orange Gelatin100 recipes
Orange Sherbet73 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.