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Plain Cornstarch Blanc Mange
Allow three heaping tablespoons of cornstarch to one quart of milk, wetting and dissolving it with a little of cold milk. Heat the rest of the milk to boiling point with three tablespoons of sugar and pinch of salt. Add to it the dissolved cornstarch and cook gently about five minutes, adding at the last the flavouring desired. Eggs may be used with this if the perfectly smooth stiffness is not desired. In this case have eggs ready whipped, the whites alone (one or two or more) or both yolks and whites; pour in and beat lightly with the mixture just before removing. Place in a wetted mould to cool and chill before serving.
A cornstarch pudding of the plainest kind, meant as a base for the fruit dishes that follow. The whole thing hangs on cooking the starch long enough and stirring it hard enough.
- The hinge: cook out the starchAbout five minutes of gentle cooking is what the starch needs, and stirring as it thickens keeps it smooth. Undercooked cornstarch tastes chalky and the pudding weeps as it chills.
- Heaping tablespoonsThree heaping tablespoons is somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 cup of cornstarch, perhaps 35-45 g, to one quart (4 cups) of milk. That gives a firm set that will unmould; for a spooned pudding use less.
- Slurry first, always"Wetting and dissolving with a little cold milk" means taking a few tablespoons from the quart and stirring it smooth with the starch before it meets hot liquid. Starch dropped dry into hot milk seizes into lumps.
- MilkWhole milk is what the book assumes. Skim milk sets but tastes thin and watery; a quart of whole milk with a splash of cream substituted is closer to the original mouthfeel.
- Heat controlA heavy saucepan over medium heat works, but scorched milk at the bottom will flavour the whole pudding. A double boiler is slower and safer, and was one common way of handling milk puddings.
- The eggsWhipped whites folded in at the end give a lighter, slightly foamy set; yolks give a richer custard texture. Temper yolks with a ladle of the hot mixture before adding them, and keep the pan on the heat briefly afterwards so the egg reaches at least 160F rather than merely warming through.
- FlavouringThe recipe leaves the amount to you. One to two teaspoons of vanilla extract per quart is the usual scale; add it off the heat, since alcohol-based extracts lose aroma in a boiling pan.
- The wetted mouldRinsing the mould in cold water and leaving it wet is what lets the blanc mange slide out cleanly. Chill at least four hours, preferably overnight, then dip the mould briefly in warm water and invert.
- YieldA quart of milk makes about six servings. Skinning is inevitable unless you press plastic wrap directly onto the surface while it cools.
Blanc mange began as something quite different: a medieval European dish of pounded chicken or fish with almonds, rice and sugar, white in colour; the name is French for "white food" or "white eating". By the nineteenth century the meat had gone and the whiteness stayed, the setting done first with isinglass or calf's-foot gelatine, then with arrowroot, and finally with cornstarch, which was manufactured in quantity in America from the 1840s onward and was cheap, reliable and tasteless. That last quality is the point: a plain cornstarch mould is a neutral white ground for stewed peaches, raspberry juice, or a compote.