Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 19,187 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Fancy Blanc Mange
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Dissolve the corn starch and sugar in a little cold milk.
Stir into the quart of milk when it reaches boiling point.
When it begins to thicken, stir in the well-beaten egg whites.
Stir constantly until it thickens sufficiently, about five minutes.
Divide and flavor
Remove from heat and divide into thirds.
Into one-third, stir in chopped citron and set aside.
In separate tins, return the other two-thirds to the heat.
Into one, stir in grated chocolate dissolved in a little boiling water and cook for one minute, then remove from heat.
Into the other, stir in the well-beaten yolks of two eggs and cook for three minutes, then remove from heat and flavor both with vanilla.
Set and chill
When they begin to set, layer in a mold: first the yellow, then the chocolate, and top with the citron.
Put on ice.
Serve
When ready to serve, turn out onto a dish and surround with sweetened whipped cream flavored with vanilla.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Corn + vanillatop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,943 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Sugar and vanilla share little aroma chemistry, yet 35,032 recipes mention both: they likely 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 creamy pudding.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the milk as its granules swell with heat, giving the pudding body.
- Egg whites
- Add structure and lightness as their proteins set when heated.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the base and balances the flavor.
The step that matters
Stirring the thickening base constantly. Starch swells and thickens as it heats near boiling, and constant stirring keeps it from scorching on the bottom and forming lumps. Egg whites should be stirred in once the base is thickening so they set into the custard rather than curdling.
“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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