We still buy cornflour based custard powders (basically sweetened, coloured cornflour) but blancmange powders which were sold in my grandmother’s day have long disappeared. While the cornflour blancmange recipe has survived in The Commonsense Cookery book, blancmanges seem to have slipped from our modern dessert repertoire. The gelatine based blancmange is still with us to some degree, in the richer and more appealingly named Italian panna cotta which uses cream rather than milk, vanilla or other flavouring, and set with gelatine. This recipe is part of my Bold Baking Worldwide series. You should try the last three recipes, Portuguese Custard Tarts, Maamoul, and Bananas Foster, too! To make blanc-manger,soak gelatin in cold water for 10 minutes. Split thevanilla beanin half, lengthwise.

Put two ounces of isinglass into a pint of water and boil it till it has dissolved. Then strain it into a porcelain skillet, and add to it half a pint of white wine, the grated peel and juice of two large deep-colored oranges, half a pound of loaf-sugar*, and the yolks only of eight eggs that have been well beaten. Mix the whole thoroughly, place it on hot coals and simmer it, stirring it all the time till it boils hard. Then take it off directly, strain it, and put it into molds to congeal. Don’t skip making the slurry—otherwise, you make end up with an uneven mix of cornstarch, and you’ll end up with lumpy blancmange. Bring the final touch to the dessert with lime zest and a mint leaf. Why you should try this recipe The oldest recipe that can be found is written in Danish, which may have been translated from a German cookbook. Before commercial gelatin was produced, Irish Moss and isinglass were used. Irish moss is a reddish purple moss found in the Atlantic Ocean coastline, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. And Isinglass is a form of collagen made from the dried fish bladders of fish.Transfer the blancmange to a pastry bag with the cut tip and push it into glasses/small glass jars. Refrigerate for about 2 hours. Blancmange is a subtle dessert that is custard-like in texture, lightly flavored with vanilla, and either eaten alone or topped with berries. And can you believe you can make it with just some milk, cornstarch, sugar, and vanilla?

To make red fruit coulis,mix the fruits and sugar in afood processor(except a few for the decoration). Pass it through afine-mesh sieveto obtain a coulis. Refrigerate. Whisk whipping cream with an electric mixer into whipped cream. Take the milk preparation from the refrigerator. Add a few spoons of cream to the almond blancmange and mix with a hand whisk. Then pour the blancmange into the whipped cream. Gently mix by lifting the mixture with the whisk. In fact, when you translate it to English, it sounds a lot less fancy. Blancmange means “white eating,” which is fitting since it is white. However, you can dress it up with some delicious fresh, seasonal fruits!Storage– Blancmange will last for around 2-3 days in the fridge. You can store separately from the coulis to stop it staining the white blancmange if you like. Keep the blancmange covered to preserve the flavour and stop the top from drying out. Take the milk preparation from the refrigerator. Add a few spoons of the whipped cream to the almond blancmange and mix with ahand whisk.

Soak half a pound of tapioca in one pint of milk for half an hour, then boil till tender. Add a pinch of salt, sweeten to taste and put into a mold. When cold, turn it out and serve with strawberry or raspberry jam around it and a little cream. Flavor with lemon or vanilla. Whisk 1 cup (8oz/225ml) milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to form a slurry. Then, whisk in the sugar and vanilla paste or extract. Set aside. Use a Whisk– Use a whisk instead of a spoon to stir the blancmange as this will reduce the risk of lumps. This also works for other milk-based puddings, custards or white sauces like bechamel. Make sure to mix a little whipped cream with the main preparation before putting it in the whipped cream to incorporate well.

A recipe timeline

Blancmange is delicious all on its own or served with various toppings, for example, berry coulis (the recipe is below). Sugar– Regular white sugar is fine, sub with brown sugar, coconut sugar or honey if you prefer. We used white sugar in the blanc manger and raw sugar in the coulis for a richer berry flavour.

You can store any leftover blancmange in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Be sure to cover it well! Make More Fine Desserts Milk– We usually use whole milk / full cream dairy milk. Sub with almond milk for a dairy free option. It is served cold in glasses, ramekins, small glass jars, or as a dessert set in a mold. Authentically white, it can also be made in different colors. Blancmange variations To serve,pour 1 to 2 tablespoons red fruit coulis on top of the blancmange. Decorate with fresh fruit and serve (photo 6). PHOTO 5 PHOTO 6 Expert tips Sprinkle the blancmange with toasted flaked almonds, shredded coconut, fresh or toasted coconut shaving, white chocolate shavings, or cranberries and raisins mixture.In a saucepan, heat the remaining 3½ cups (28oz/790ml) of milk over medium-low heat until it starts to steam. Blancmange may be colored green by mixing a little juice of spinach with the cream. Cochineal* which has been infused in a little brandy for half an hour will color it red and saffron will give it a bright yellow tinge. Cornflour is not commonly seen in C18th and C19th British cookbooks – you’d find ‘Indian’ corn (referring to its American origins) for polenta-like cornmeal puddings, but until the mid C19th what we know as cornflour was mainly used as a laundry product, used to stiffen aprons, shirt colours and cuffs. Rather than being a milled flour per se, cornflour is actually corn starch, extracted from the germ and endosperm of the maize kernel, dried and processed into a fine powder. Household management books such as Mrs Beeton’s include receipts for the laundress, for the formula to convert the cornstarch into an early version of ironing spray. And today, cornstarch is used as an alternative to talcum powder. Soak half a box of gelatin in a cupful of water for an hour. Boil two cups of milk, then add the gelatin, half a cup of grated chocolate rubbed smooth in a little milk, and one cup of sugar. Boil all together eight or ten minutes. Remove from the fire and when nearly cold, beat into this the whipped whites of three eggs flavored with vanilla. This should be served cold with custard made of the yolks, or sugar and cream. Set the molds in a cold place.