Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Lemon Blancmange
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Combine egg yolks and 1 pint of milk in a saucepan to make a custard. Once done, transfer to a bowl.
In the same saucepan, add the remaining milk, ground rice, butter, lemon rind, and 3 oz. of sugar. Boil while stirring until thick.
Pour the thick mixture into the bowl with the custard and mix well.
Add the gelatine
In another saucepan, combine the gelatin with the rest of the milk. Let it dissolve over low heat, then boil for 1–2 minutes.
Carefully stir the gelatin mixture into the bowl, adding the remaining 3 oz. of sugar.
Set and serve
Once cooled, stir in the strained lemon juice and pour into a well‑oiled mould, leaving out the lemon peel.
Set the mould in a pan of cold water until ready to serve.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Milk + ricetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Rice + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,366 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Rice + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,645 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard and add richness and a smooth, creamy structure.
- Ground rice
- Thickens the milk mixture so the blancmange holds its body when set.
- Gelatine
- Sets the liquid so the blancmange firms into a sliceable shape when cooled.
- Milk
- Forms the creamy base that the thickeners and gelatine set in.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the dessert and adds to its smooth, soft texture.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity and bright lemon flavour that balances the sweetness.
The step that matters
Boil the thickened mixture while stirring. Ground rice thickens as its starch swells and cooks; stirring continuously prevents scorching on the base of the pan and lumps. Gelatine must dissolve fully before it is combined, or the set will be uneven.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, egg, rice, sugar, butter):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Figfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, rice, sugar, butter. 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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