Lemon Blancmange
INGREDIthe yolks of 4 eggs, 3 oz. of ground rice, 6 ENTS for quart mould.-1 quart of milk, of milk, the rind of 1 lemon, the juice of 2, 1/2 oz. of pounded sugar, 1½ oz. of fresh butter, gelatine. AVERAGE COST, 1s. 6d. eggs and ½ pint of the milk and when done Make a custard with the yolks of the put it into a basin of the milk into a lined saucepan with the ; put half the remainder ground rice, fresh butter, lemon-rind and 3 oz. of the sugar and let these ingredients boil until the mixture is stiff, stirring when done, pour it them continually; into the bowl where the custard is, mixgether. Put the ing both well togelatine with the rest of the milk into a BLANCMANGE MOULD. saucepan the side of the fire and let it stand by to dissolve; boil for a minute or two, stir carefully into the basin, adding 3 oz. more of pounded sugar. When cold, stir in the lemon-juice, which should be carefully strained; and pour the mixture into a well-oiled mould, leaving out the lemonpeel; then set the mould in a pan of cold water until wanted for table. Use eggs that have rich-looking yolks; and, should the weather be very warm, rather a larger proportion of gelatine must be allowed.
TIME.-Altogether, hour.
SEASONABLE at any time.
A Victorian moulded pudding that sets on two separate thickeners at once: cooked ground rice and gelatine, with an egg custard folded through. The hinge is the lemon juice, which goes in only after the mixture has cooled.
- The ingredients, sorted outWorking quantities are 1 quart milk, the yolks of 4 eggs, 3 oz ground rice, 6 oz pounded sugar (used in two 3 oz additions), 1½ oz fresh butter, the rind of 1 lemon, the juice of 2, and ½ oz gelatine. The milk is divided three ways: half a pint for the custard, half the remainder for the rice, and what is left for dissolving the gelatine.
- An imperial quart1 quart here is 40 fl oz, about 1.14 litres or roughly 5 US cups, not the 32 oz US quart.
- Ground riceGround rice is rice milled coarser than rice flour. Rice flour can be used but gives a smoother, less grainy result and thickens slightly faster.
- Gelatine½ oz is about 14 g, equivalent to roughly two 7 g sachets of powder or seven to eight leaves. Victorian gelatine was probably less consistent in strength than modern sheet or powdered gelatine; start at 10-12 g and test a spoonful on a cold saucer before committing the whole mould.
- Add the lemon juice coldThe instruction to stir the strained juice in only when the mixture is cold is the point of the recipe. Acid poured into hot milk curdles it, and prolonged heat weakens gelatine's setting power.
- Pounded sugarPounded sugar is loaf sugar crushed fine, so caster sugar is the direct substitute. 6 oz is about 170 g across the two additions.
- SettingThe recipe stands the mould in a pan of cold water. Refrigerate instead, at least 4 hours and preferably overnight; the ground rice makes this a dense mixture that firms slowly.
- Turning out and yieldOil the mould with a flavourless oil rather than butter, which sets opaque and streaks the surface. A quart mould serves 8 as a dessert; dip briefly in warm water to release.
- TimingThe stated total time appears to cover the cooking only. Allow time at the stove plus several hours to set.
Blancmange began in medieval Europe as a savoury-sweet dish of pounded chicken or almonds with rice, its name meaning "white food"; by Mrs Beeton's day the meat had gone and it had become a milk pudding set in a decorative mould. The Victorian version depended on two things arriving in ordinary kitchens: commercial gelatine, which was being sold in prepared form by the middle of the century, and the pressed tin and copper moulds that made a turned-out shape a centrepiece of the supper table. This recipe uses ground rice, eggs and gelatine together, which gives a richer and firmer result than a gelatine-set jelly. The note to allow more gelatine in warm weather is a reminder that these moulds were made in larders, not refrigerators, and that a collapsed blancmange was a real risk of a summer dinner.