Why it works: Sugar and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Blanc Mange
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Mix sugar, cornstarch, and egg thoroughly.
Cook and set
Cook the mixture until it thickens.
Pour into a previously wet mold.
Serve
Serve with a tart jelly.
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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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Provides sweetness that balances the mild, creamy flavor of the dessert.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the mixture as it heats, giving the dessert its firm, sliceable body.
- Egg
- Adds richness and helps thicken and bind the mixture as its proteins set with heat.
The step that matters
Cook the mixture until it thickens. Cornstarch thickens only when heated enough for its starch granules to swell and gel. Stop once it has thickened, since overcooking can scorch the mixture or break down the set, and undercooking leaves it runny.
“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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