Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Lemon Blancmange
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Make a custard with the egg yolks and 2 cups of the milk.
Transfer the custard to a bowl.
In a saucepan, combine the remaining milk, ground rice, butter, lemon rind, and 3 oz. of sugar.
Boil the mixture until thick, stirring constantly.
Pour the thick mixture into the bowl with the custard and mix well.
Add the gelatine and lemon
In another saucepan, combine the gelatine and the rest of the milk.
Let the mixture dissolve over low heat, then boil for 1-2 minutes.
Stir the gelatine mixture into the custard mixture.
Add the remaining 3 oz. of sugar.
Once cool, stir in the strained lemon juice.
Set and serve
Pour the mixture into a well-oiled mold.
Set the mold in a pan of cold water until ready to serve.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Milk + ricetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Rice + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,366 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Rice + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,645 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard and add richness and a smooth, creamy texture.
- Ground rice
- Thickens the milk mixture so the blancmange holds its body when set.
- Gelatine
- Sets the mixture so it firms and holds its shape when chilled.
- Milk
- Forms the base of the custard and the set dessert, providing moisture and body.
- Pounded sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the tartness of the lemon.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity and bright lemon flavour.
The step that matters
Boil the mixture until thick, stirring constantly. Ground rice thickens as its starch swells in hot liquid. Constant stirring prevents scorching on the base of the pan and lumps, giving a smooth thick mixture before it is combined with the custard.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, egg, rice, sugar, butter):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Figfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, rice, sugar, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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