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Dessert

Ratafia Blancmange

A chilled dessert made by mixing cream with crushed ratafias and isinglass.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Ratafia Blancmange

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Boil the cream or milk until hot.

  2. Pour it over the crushed ratafias and mix well.

  3. Let it stand, stirring occasionally until the ratafias dissolve.

Set and cool

  1. Dissolve the isinglass in lukewarm water and stir it in.

  2. Pour the mixture into a mold and set it to cool.

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

What each ingredient does

Cream or rich milk
Provides fat and richness, giving the blancmange a creamy, smooth body.
Crushed macaroon ratafias
Add almond flavour and sweetness, and their crumbs thicken and flavour the liquid as they dissolve.
Isinglass
A gelatin-like protein that sets the mixture as it cools, giving it a firm, sliceable texture.

The step that matters

Let the ratafias dissolve fully before adding the isinglass. If the crumbs are not fully dissolved, the mixture stays grainy and uneven. Stirring occasionally helps them break down evenly into the hot cream so the final set is 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.

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