Skip to main content
Dessert

Vanilla Blancmange

A custard dessert made with milk, cream, sugar, vanilla, egg yolks, and gelatin, chilled until set.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

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 ↓

Vanilla Blancmange

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Bring the milk, sugar, cream, and vanilla pod to a boil, then simmer gently until flavored.

  2. Beat the egg yolks slightly.

  3. Strain the boiling milk over the yolks while stirring vigorously.

  4. Return the mixture to the saucepan and stir over low heat until it thickens.

Set and finish

  1. Dissolve the gelatine in ½ pint of water and add it to the custard.

  2. When cool, fold in the stiffly whipped cream.

  3. Chill in the refrigerator or a cold place until set.

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

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

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

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

  4. Cream + vanillatop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,301 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  5. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

Egg yolks
Thicken the custard as they set during gentle heating, giving it a smooth body.
Gelatine
Sets the dessert so it holds its shape when chilled.
Cream
Adds richness and fat, giving a silky mouthfeel; whipped portion lightens the set dessert.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard, carrying the flavor and thickening with the yolks.
Loaf sugar
Sweetens the custard and softens its flavor.

The step that matters

Return the mixture to the saucepan and stir over low heat until it thickens. Egg yolks thicken through gentle heat; if the custard overheats, the proteins can curdle and turn grainy. Keep the heat low and stir constantly.

“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.

You might also like

Vanilla Ice CreamVanilla Ice Cream108 recipesWhite CakeWhite Cake431 recipesPound CakePound Cake373 recipesOrange Bundt CakeOrange Bundt Cake349 recipes