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Dessert

Blanc Mange

A chilled almond and maraschino liqueur mousse made with sweet cream, gelatin, and cinnamon bark.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,514 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Blanc Mange

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mixture

  1. In a bowl, combine sweet cream and Maraschino liqueur.

  2. Add cold milk, pounded almonds, sugar, and dissolved gelatin. Stir until well mixed.

Set and serve

  1. Pour the mixture into a mold and add cinnamon bark.

  2. Refrigerate until set.

  3. Unmold and serve chilled.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Almond + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,514 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Cream + gelatintop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,628 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Sugar + gelatintop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,778 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sweet cream
Provides the rich fat and body that give the mousse its smooth, creamy texture.
Pounded almonds
Add nutty flavour and body, thickening the mixture as it sets.
Gelatin
Sets the liquid mixture into a firm, sliceable dessert as it chills.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and balances the richness of the cream and almonds.
Maraschino liqueur
Adds a distinct cherry-almond aroma and a touch of sweetness.

The step that matters

Dissolve and combine the gelatin fully before chilling. Gelatin must be fully dissolved and evenly mixed into the cream; undissolved or unevenly distributed gelatin leaves lumps or weak spots, and the dessert only sets properly when it is cooled undisturbed.

“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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