Why it works: Milk and corn are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and 6,955 recipes mention both. Both carry hexanal, which smells green, grassy. The science ↓
Corn Starch Blanc Mange
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Heat the milk in a saucepan over medium heat.
In a bowl, beat together the sugar and eggs.
Dissolve the corn starch in a little water and add it to the egg mixture.
When the milk comes to a boil, stir in the egg and corn starch mixture.
Continue stirring until the mixture thickens.
Mold and serve
Pour into cups or molds that have been wet with cold water to prevent sticking.
Serve cold with sweetened cream flavored with vanilla.
Optionally, add canned blackberries, raspberries, or strawberries to the side before pouring on the cream.
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.
-
Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Corn + sugartop 21% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together7,168 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar share little aroma chemistry, yet 77,875 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
- Corn starch
- Thickens the milk into a smooth, sliceable custard as it heats and gelatinizes.
- Eggs
- Add richness and help set the custard along with the starch.
- Sweet milk
- Forms the liquid base that the starch and eggs thicken.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and balances the flavor of the eggs and milk.
The step that matters
Continue stirring until the mixture thickens. Starch granules swell and thicken the liquid only when hot enough, and sitting without stirring lets them scorch or clump on the pan bottom. Steady stirring keeps heat even and the custard smooth.
“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
Corn Cake90 recipes
Corn Starch Cake89 recipes
Corn Cakes22 recipes
Green Corn Pudding14 recipesThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.