Blancmange

Blancmange is a traditional British recipe for a classic dessert made from milk flavoured with lemon zest and set with cornflour. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Blancmange.

prep time

10 minutes

cook time

15 minutes

Total Time:

25 minutes

Additional Time:

(+90 minutes chilling)

Serves:

6

Rating:

Tags : Dessert RecipesMilk RecipesBritish Recipes

Blancmange is a classic British chilled dessert. It derives from the blankmanger of Medieval times (literally white food) which was originally a savoury dish of Almond milk and chicken thickened with rice. In Elizabethan times, the popularity of sugar evolved Blancmange into a sweet dessert made with milk or almond milk thickened with rice flour (it is still made this way in India today). Modern Blancmanges are typically made from milk with flavourings set with cornflour (as here) or with gelatine. Here a simple basic Blancmange is presented [as a note, the typical pronunciation is blew-mange].

Ingredients:

4 tbsp cornflour
600ml milk
2 strips finely-pared lemon zest
3 tbsp caster sugar

Method:

Combine the cornflour with 2 tbsp of the milk to a smooth paste. Add the remaining milk and lemon zest to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Take off the heat then whisk in the cornflour mix until smooth. Return to the heat and bring back to a boil, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens. Cook for a further 3 minutes then stir in the sugar.

Take off the heat and set aside to cool slightly before pouring into a moistened 600ml jelly mould. Set aside to cool completely then refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving. When ready to serve, bring the blancmange to room temperature then dip briefly in hot water to loosen then turn out onto a chilled serving plate and accompany with fresh fruit.

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