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Dessert

Chocolate Blanc Mange

A chocolate custard dessert made with gelatin, chocolate, milk, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 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

Make the custard base

  1. Soak the gelatin in cold water.

  2. In a bowl, mix the sugar, chocolate, and eggs.

  3. Add the scalded milk and cook in a double boiler until a coating forms on a spoon.

  4. Add the soaked gelatin once it is dissolved.

  5. Stir in the salt and vanilla.

Set and serve

  1. Pour the mixture into a mold and chill.

  2. Serve with soft custard.

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. Gelatin + sugartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,778 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

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

  5. Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, 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

Eggs
Thicken the custard as they cook and add richness and structure to the mousse.
Gelatin
Sets the mixture so it holds its shape when chilled.
Baker's chocolate
Provides the chocolate flavour and body of the mousse.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard and adds creaminess.
Sugar
Sweetens the mousse and balances the bitterness of the chocolate.

The step that matters

Cooking the custard in the double boiler. Eggs can scramble if heated too quickly. Gentle heat over simmering water thickens the custard evenly until it coats a spoon, which is the sign it is ready.

“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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