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Dessert

Quince Blanc-mange, with Almond Cream

A dessert made from quince juice, almonds, sugar, and isinglass, formed into a smooth blanc-mange.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Eliza Acton · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Apricot and quince share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 75 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓

Quince Blanc-mange, with Almond Cream

two persons

Ingredients

Directions

Make the quince base

  1. Blanch and beat four ounces of almonds to a smooth paste, moisten with a few drops of water to prevent oiling.

  2. Pour a pint of boiling quince-juice into the almond paste and stir together.

  3. Turn the mixture into a strong cloth; have two persons hold and twist the ends to express the cream from the almonds.

  4. Return the juice to the fire with half a pound of sugar; when it boils, add nearly an ounce of fine isinglass.

  5. Simmer the mixture for five minutes; skim off the scum; stir the blanc-mange until it is nearly cold.

  6. Mold the blanc-mange for table.

  7. Increase the quantity of this and the preceding blanc-mange when a large dish is required.

Make the apricot cream

  1. Dissolve an ounce of fine isinglass in a pint of new milk or thin cream; strain through a folded muslin.

  2. Place the strained mixture in a clean saucepan with three ounces of sugar broken into small lumps; when it boils, stir in half a pint of rich cream.

  3. Add the cream to eight ounces of the finest apricot jam, one spoonful at a time, mixing smoothly.

  4. Stir the mixture until it is nearly cold so that the jam does not sink to the bottom of the mould; add a tablespoonful of lemon-juice to improve the flavour.

Variations

  1. When cream is scarce, use milk instead with an additional quarter of an ounce of isinglass.

  2. Enrich the mixture by pouring it boiling on the same proportion of almonds as for the second quince blanc-mange.

  3. Cream can be substituted entirely for the milk for a richer preparation.

  4. Peach jam may be used instead of apricot jam, but it must be sieved before use.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

273Calories
9 gProtein
14 gFat
29 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Apricot1 medium (35g)17
Almond1 almond (1.2g)7

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

By Eliza Acton. 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. Apricot + quincetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together75 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  2. Almond + apricottop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together852 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Almond + quincetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together69 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  4. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

What each ingredient does

Almonds
Provide body and a creamy, rich texture when beaten into a paste.
Isinglass
Gelatinises the liquid so the blancmange sets firm and can be moulded.
Apricot jam
Supplies fruit flavour, sweetness and colour to the set cream.
Rich cream
Adds fat for a smooth, soft texture and a richer mouthfeel.
Sugar
Sweetens the blancmange and balances the fruit flavour.
Quince juice
Provides the main quince flavour and liquid base for the set.

The step that matters

Stirring the mixture until nearly cold before moulding. If the jam-cream is still warm, the jam is heavy and sinks to the bottom of the mould. Cooling while stirring keeps the fruit evenly suspended as the isinglass begins to set.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, sugar, apricot, quince, milk, cream):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Peachfits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against almond, sugar, apricot, quince, milk, cream. 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.

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