Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and 43,450 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Blanc-mange
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
In a saucepan, combine sweet milk, corn starch, and sugar. Stir until smooth.
Divide the mixture into three equal parts.
Flavor and set
In one part, stir in grated chocolate until melted.
In another part, add fruit coloring.
In the last part, add rose flavoring.
Pour each mixture into serving dishes and chill until set.
Serve
Serve with whipped 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.
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Chocolate + creamtop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together5,466 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sweet milk
- Forms the liquid base that the starch thickens into a creamy pudding.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the milk and sets it into a firm, sliceable dessert as it cools.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and balances the mild, starchy flavor.
- Baker's chocolate
- Adds chocolate flavor and darkens the portion it is melted into.
- Fruit coloring
- Tints one portion so the three layers look distinct.
- Whipped cream
- Adds a light, rich topping that contrasts with the firm pudding.
The step that matters
Stir the starch smooth before setting. Cornstarch clumps if it is not fully dispersed in the milk, and clumps stay visible as lumps in the set pudding. Stirring until smooth first gives an even, silky texture.
“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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