Why it works: Corn and spinach match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 157 recipes. Both carry 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol, which smells clove, smoky. The science ↓
Blanc-Mange
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Heat 1 pint of milk in a basin over boiling water.
In a cup, mix 2 teaspoons of corn-starch with 2 tablespoons of cold milk.
Beat in 4 egg yolks and 2 tablespoons of sugar.
When the milk is hot, pour some into the cup and stir well.
Pour the mixture back into the basin and stir until thickened to your liking.
Chill and finish
Chill the mixture in the refrigerator until thoroughly cold.
For colored blanc-mange, add chocolate, spinach juice, or fruit juices as desired.
Layer the white and colored blanc-mange in a mold for a decorative effect.
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.
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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Corn + spinachtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together157 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
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Milk + strawberrytop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,130 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the starch and yolks thicken into a smooth set dessert.
- Corn-starch
- Thickens the milk as it heats, giving the blanc-mange its firm, sliceable body.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help thicken and enrich the custard as they cook gently.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the dessert and adds to its soft, smooth texture.
The step that matters
Pour the mixture back into the basin and stir until thickened to your liking.. Starch thickens when heated, but egg yolks can scramble if the mixture gets too hot or is left unstirred over direct heat. Gentle, constant stirring over simmering water keeps the custard smooth.
Swap the spinach
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, corn, sugar, egg, chocolate, strawberry):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits better
- Sweet potatofits better
- Spinachthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, corn, sugar, egg, chocolate, strawberry. 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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