Blanmange

Blanmange is one of the oldest French desserts that are popular all over the world. The name of the dish is translated as “white dish”, as it was originally white in color, only later it was sometimes cooked with the addition of coffee and chocolate. The consistency of it resembles jelly, but slightly less dense. One of the admirers of this exquisite delicacy, which in old times was made from almond milk and rice flour, was A. S. Pushkin. Today, blancmange is made not only from almond, but also from ordinary cow's milk and other dairy products. Both rice flour and starch, gelatin, agar-agar are used as a thickener. In the dessert often add nuts, berries, fruits. Serve it in bowls or on saucers. In the latter case, the delicacy is prepared in the form or small molds, from which it is extracted before serving, and cut if necessary. The dessert is served exceptionally cold, has a gentle and refreshing taste.

Cooking Features

Experienced cooks consider the process of cooking blancmange simple, affordable even for an inexperienced hostess. They argue that most people who prepare dessert without breaking the technology have an excellent result the first time. Even if you have never been interested in pastry art, you will be able to please friends and relatives with a famous French delicacy, you just need to know and take into account a few points.

Most often, starch or gelatin is used to thicken milk or other products that form the basis of blancmange; sometimes, following the tradition, they use rice flour. They must be diluted with a liquid at room temperature and only then heated or introduced into a hot base, otherwise lumps form, and this will spoil the taste of the finished dish.
Pieces of nuts and fruits can be mixed into the dessert when it is being cooked, or placed on the bottom of the form in which the dessert will be prepared and poured with condensed milk product.
If you cook blancmange immediately in ice-cream bowls or small glasses, you will not have to remove the dessert before serving. If a treat is made in shape, then removing the blancmange without damaging its integrity may not be easy. This is the main difficulty experienced by inexperienced chefs. To remove the dessert from the form, you need to dip it in hot water for a couple of seconds, then turn it over on a dish. If the form in boiling water is over-exposed, the treat will “float” and become less appetizing. Resourceful housewives blow the bottom of the form with a hairdryer. This is one of the easiest ways to extract a treat without damaging it. Another way is to use silicone containers that can be easily removed from the jelly without any tricks.
Do not rush to remove the dessert from the mold; it must be cooled in the refrigerator for at least 5 hours, otherwise it will not be tight enough.

When serving, blanmanmange can be poured over with syrup, decorated with a sprig of mint, cocktail cherries, strawberries, a piece of pineapple or other fruit. Eat a treat with a spoon.

The classic recipe for blancmange

Composition:

milk - 1 l;
nuts (preferably almonds or assorted) - 0, 2 kg;
rice flour - 75 g;
fat cream (for whipping) - 0, 2 l;
icing sugar (optional) - to taste;
nutmeg - at the tip of a knife;
lemon zest (optional) - to taste.

Method of preparation:

Dry the nuts in a dry frying pan, peel, crush, but not too small.
Divide the milk into two parts.
In one piece of milk, enter the rice flour, whipping the dessert with a whisk.
Heat the second part of the milk, add sugar powder, nuts, nutmeg and zest into it, cook for 2-3 minutes.
Pour in the second part of the milk, whipping the product with a whisk so that there are no lumps.
Cook over low heat, stirring until the milk is thick enough.
Whip the cream. Enter them into the dessert, carefully mixing it.
Spread out in tins.
When the mixture has cooled to room temperature, refrigerate, cool for 5 hours.

Before serving, dessert should be laid out from the molds on saucers, decorated with nuts.

Almond Blanmange

Composition:

Almonds - 150 g;
fatty cream - 0, 2 l;
gelatin - 12 g;
water - 0, 6 l;
icing sugar - 80 g;
cognac or almond essence - to taste.

Method of preparation:

Clean the almonds from the husk, place it in the blender bowl.
Pour 100 ml of water. Turn on the device. Crush the nuts until the contents of the blender have a uniform consistency.
Pour gelatin with cool water in the amount of 100 ml, leave for 10-20 minutes so that it swells.
Pour chopped nuts with remaining water, whisk, pour into a saucepan and bring to a boil.
Remove from heat, allow to cool to room temperature, strain through cloth or gauze folded in several layers. Press the cake thoroughly.
Heat almond milk, dissolve icing sugar in it.
Pour in gelatin. Cook, stirring for 1-2 minutes, remove from heat.
Whip the cream into a lush foam, adding cognac or flavor to it.
Combine the cream with the almond base, mix gently.
Spread on ice-cream bowls and refrigerate. The sample can be removed after 5 hours.

When serving for dessert, you can put almonds or a sprig of mint. Another option is to pour the delicacy with berry jam or chocolate sauce.

Vanilla Blancman

Composition:

milk - 0, 3 l;
low-fat cream (drinking) - 0, 2 l;
sugar - 80 g;
corn starch - 40 g;
vanilla - 1 pod.

Method of preparation:

Pour 100 ml of milk, dissolve starch in it.
Combine the remaining milk with the cream. Put sugar in this mixture, squeeze out the contents of the vanilla pod, put the pod itself.
Bring milk with sugar to a boil, remove the pod. Pour into the boiling milk, stirring it with milk with starch.
Cook, continuing to stir, for 2-3 minutes.
Pour the fragrant mixture into the mold.
When the jelly has cooled to room temperature, put it in the fridge and cool it for 4-5 hours.

Dessert for this recipe is not only tasty, but also fragrant. It is unlikely that some sweet tooth stand in front of him.

Cheese blancmange with pineapple

Composition:

cottage cheese - 0, 5 kg;
sour cream - 0, 25 l;
milk - 0, 25 l;
icing sugar - 0, 2 kg;
gelatin - 30 g;
vanilla sugar - 20 g;
canned pineapples - 0, 2 kg.

Method of preparation:

Combine cottage cheese, sour cream, vanilla sugar and powdered sugar. Stir with a spoon, then whisk in a blender.
Pour gelatin with cool milk, leave for half an hour.
Heat, stirring, so that the gelatin is completely dissolved.
Pour to the curd mass, mix as thoroughly as possible.
Cut canned pineapples into large cubes. If they are already crushed properly, skip this step.
Mix the pineapples with the curd mass.
Put the cooked mixture in a cake pan, put it in the fridge overnight.
For a couple of seconds, lower the form into boiling water, turn it over in a dish, remove.

It remains to cut the dessert into slices, arrange into plates, pour over syrup and serve. In a similar way, blancmange can be made with fresh pineapple or strawberry.

Coffee Blanche

Composition:

low-fat cream (10%) - 0.5 l;
water - 0, 25 l;
instant coffee - 5 g;
gelatin - 15 g;
sugar - 80 g.

Method of preparation:

Dissolve coffee in 50 ml of hot water.
Pour the gelatin into room temperature with boiled water.
Mix cream with sugar and coffee, bring to a boil.
Pour loose gelatin into them, mix.
Cook for a couple of minutes, remove from heat.
Pour into coffee cups and put in the refrigerator.

Dessert will turn out even more fragrant if you use non-soluble coffee, but natural coffee, but you have to cook and strain it.

Cocoa Chocolate Blanche

Composition:

fatty cream - 0, 2 l;
milk - 1 l;
icing sugar - 0, 2 kg;
water - 0, 3 l;
gelatin - 50 g;
cocoa powder - 30 g;
vanillin - at the tip of the knife.

Method of preparation:

Pellets of gelatin pour cool water in the amount of 150 ml.
Mix cocoa powder with powdered sugar. If you did not manage to buy it, you can make it from granulated sugar, grinding it with a blender or a coffee grinder.
Pour the remaining water with a mixture of powdered sugar and cocoa.
Boil the milk. Pour it, stirring, in a container of powdered sugar and cocoa.
Next, inject the dissolved gelatin, mix well.
Put on a low heat and heat, stirring, for 2-3 minutes.
Spread the dessert in molds, cool.

Put the finished jelly out of the molds onto the dessert plates. Whip the cream, decorate a treat with it before serving it. The contrast of chocolate and creamy white makes the dish particularly appetizing.

Blanmange from kefir

Composition:

kefir - 0, 5 l;
sour cream - 120 ml;
icing sugar - 100 g;
gelatin - 15 g;
water - 120 ml;
vanilla sugar - 5 g.

Method of preparation:

Pour gelatin with water, leave for 20 minutes. Then heat it to dissolve.
Combine kefir with sour cream and sweet products. Beat so that the mixture becomes homogeneous, the sugar crystals dissolve.
Continuing to beat the kefir with a mixer, add uncovered gelatin into it.
Spread the mixture over the ice-cream bowls, cool.

When served to the table, the dessert does not hurt to decorate with a mint leaf.

Blanmange is one of the oldest and most famous French desserts in the whole world. Despite the fact that the delicacy has a unique taste and exquisite appearance, it is prepared quickly and easily.