Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Blanc Mange
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Scald the milk in a saucepan.
Mix the cornstarch with a little cold milk, then add it to the hot milk.
Stir in the sugar and salt, and cook for 15 minutes.
Finish and set
Once cool, add the vanilla and gently fold in the beaten egg whites.
Pour the mixture into molds rinsed with cold water and set aside to firm up.
Serve
Serve with steamed custard or whipped cream mixed with canned cherries.
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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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Vanilla + sugartop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Vanilla and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
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 thickens into a smooth, sliceable pudding.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the hot milk as its starch gelatinises, giving the blanc-mange its firm set.
- Egg whites
- Beaten whites add airiness and a lighter, more delicate texture to the set pudding.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the mild, starchy flavour of the milk and cornstarch.
The step that matters
Cooking the cornstarch mixture. Starch only thickens fully when the mixture reaches a boil and is stirred so it does not scorch or form lumps. Under-cooking leaves a thin, loose set, while the gelatinised starch is what gives the pudding its firm structure as it cools.
“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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