Strawberry Blancmange

Strawberry Blancmange is a traditional British recipe for a classic dessert of milk flavoured with strawberries and almond essence that's set with cornflour (cornstarch). The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Strawberry Blancmange.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

20 minutes

Total Time:

40 minutes

Additional Time:

(+4 hours chilling)

Serves:

Rating:

Tags : Dessert Recipes Milk Recipes British 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 gelatine-based Blancmange recipe that's flavoured with strawberry purée is presented.

Ingredients:

75g cornflour (cornstarch)
700ml milk
50g sugar
a few drops of almond essence (to taste)
400g fresh strawberries
fresh strawberries, to garnish

Method:

Begin with the strawberries. Process in a food processor until smooth then press through a fine-meshed sieve to remove the seeds. Now blend the cornflour with about 4 tbsp of the milk in a bowl to form a smooth paste. Stir this into the strawberry puree until completely combined.

Add the remaining milk to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Take off the heat then pour into the strawberry and cornflour mix, whisking thoroughly. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and heat gently, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and comes to a simmer. Continue simmering for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally then take the pan off the heat and stir in the sugar.

Add the almond essence to taste then set the mixture aside to cool slightly. Pour the resultant blancmange into a 1.1l moistened jelly mould and set aside to cool completely. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, to set completely. When ready to serve, bring the blancmange to room temperature then dip briefly in hot water to loosen before turning out onto a chilled plate. Serve decorated with sliced strawberries.

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