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Dessert

Blancmange R, or Almond Jelly

A sweet almond jelly made with bitter and sweet almonds, milk, cream, and brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,125 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Blancmange R, or Almond Jelly

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Dissolve the isinglass in water over low heat, stirring occasionally.

  2. Finely pound the bitter and sweet almonds in a mortar.

Make the jelly

  1. Add the almonds to the isinglass along with the milk, cream, orange-flower water, and sugar.

  2. Bring the mixture to a boil.

  3. Strain it through a fine sieve.

  4. Let it cool until a skin forms on top.

  5. Remove the skin.

  6. Pour the mixture into a basin, leaving any sediment behind.

  7. Stir in the brandy.

Mold and serve

  1. Pour the mixture into a mold.

  2. Fill an ornament at the top of the mold with Calves' Foot Jelly.

  3. Let it set.

  4. Pour in the blancmange.

  5. Dip the mold in warm water to unmold.

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 + orangetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,125 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

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

  3. Orange + brandytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,706 recipes

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

  4. Milk + orangetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,696 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  5. Milk + brandytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,738 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

Isinglass
Sets the liquid into a firm jelly as it cools.
Almonds
Provide the main almond flavour and body from the crushed nuts.
Cream
Adds richness and a smooth, soft texture from its fat.
Milk
Adds creaminess and softness to the mixture, diluting the richness of the cream.
Sugar
Adds sweetness, balancing the bitter almonds and brandy.

The step that matters

Dip the mold in warm water to unmold. Isinglass is a gelatin-like gel that softens when warmed. A brief dip loosens the edges so the jelly releases, while longer heating would melt the set surface and distort it.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, milk, cream, sugar, brandy):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figfits better
  3. Apricotfits better
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against almond, milk, cream, sugar, brandy. 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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