Skip to main content
Dessert

Gelatine Blanc Mange

A chilled gelatin dessert made with milk, egg yolks, whites, sugar, and flavored with vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

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 ↓

Gelatine Blanc Mange

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard base

  1. Dissolve the gelatine in a bowl over boiling water.

  2. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together.

  3. Add the yolk mixture to the gelatine and milk, stirring briskly for a few minutes.

Set and serve

  1. Let the mixture cool slightly, then fold in the beaten egg whites and flavoring.

  2. Pour the mixture into a mold and refrigerate for 5 to 6 hours.

  3. Serve with cream and sugar.

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. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

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

  4. Vanilla + creamtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,301 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  5. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

Sugar and vanilla 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

Gelatine
Sets the mixture into a firm, sliceable structure as it chills.
Egg whites
Beaten and folded in, they add a light, airy texture to the set dessert.
Egg yolks
Thicken and enrich the milk mixture, adding richness and body.
Milk
Provides the liquid base and creamy body of the dessert.
Sugar
Sweetens the dessert and helps balance the richness of the yolks.

The step that matters

Let the mixture cool slightly before folding in the egg whites. If the mixture is too hot, the beaten egg whites deflate and lose the airiness they provide. If it is too cold, the gelatine may begin to set early and leave lumps. Slight cooling keeps the foam intact while the mixture stays fluid enough to combine evenly.

“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.

You might also like

Vanilla Ice CreamVanilla Ice Cream108 recipesWhite CakeWhite Cake431 recipesPound CakePound Cake373 recipesOrange Bundt CakeOrange Bundt Cake349 recipes