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Dessert

Chocolate Blanc Mange

A chilled chocolate blanc dessert made with milk, cornstarch, sugar, salt, chocolate, and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Chocolate Blanc Mange

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine 2 cups milk, 3 tablespoons cornstarch, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a saucepan.

  2. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens.

  3. Melt 1 ounce chocolate over hot water.

  4. Add the melted chocolate to the thickened milk mixture.

  5. Stir in 1/4 cup cold milk and 4 drops vanilla extract until well combined.

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. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

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

  4. Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,128 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they 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

Milk
Forms the liquid base that cornstarch thickens into a smooth, creamy custard.
Cornstarch
Thickens the milk as it heats, giving the mousse its body and set.
Sugar
Sweetens the mousse and adds to its smooth, soft texture.
Chocolate
Adds chocolate flavour and richness while firming slightly as it cools.

The step that matters

Cook the mixture until it thickens. Cornstarch only thickens fully once the mixture reaches a boil while stirred, so stopping early leaves a thin base that will not set properly and can taste starchy.

“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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