A simple milk based dessert…
While I found it easy to find savory recipes for the Blogging Marathon #140 theme of “Pick One Cuisine: Anglo Indian” – in which I did the Yellow Rice and the Country Chicken Curry – I had a tough time figuring out a dessert. It felt like there weren’t much desserts that the Ango Indian community enjoyed. It was either Fruit Custard or Creme Caramel, that I already have on the blog and the available recipes weren’t much different. There was also a version of our very own Eylanchi as well. Then I found out some steamed pudding recipes, which I pinned it up to try, but I wanted to make something simple that my folks would enjoy. I landed up on a Facebook group called “Anglo Indian Recipes” and asked them what dessert I could consider making. One of them suggested “Blanc Mange.”
The name is extremely interesting. Blanc Mange or Blancmange is said to be a European dessert made with milk and/or cream and thickened with rice flour, corn flour, gelatin or a type of moss. Usually, it is flavored with almonds but it looks like it can be done in anyway. It looks like the dessert is not ingenious to the British but every European country has their own version with slight variations to it. Anyway, since I got the suggestion from an Anglo Indian herself, I decided to go with it.
There were so many versions available on the net but I decided to adapt the recipe from here, the main reason being the maker mentioning that her English husband commenting that it tasted exactly how he remembered it to be. While cooking the milk and corn flour to thicken, I was reminded that it resembled so much like the Muhallabieh, with the only difference being in the flavorings. The flavoring agents in this recipe are lemon zest and cinnamon, while it is rose water and/or orange blossom water, depicting the difference in the area it comes from. Each time I try something new, it amazes me how there is always another version in some part of the world. 🙂
I made a very small portion and instantly regretted it. Rasha and HD really loved it that they ended up eating three fourth of it. I got a small portion to try and absolutely loved how subtle yet prominent the flavors are. As per my understanding, you can use flavorings of your choice, like vanilla and almond extract. You can even color them and add fruit or chocolate flavorings. I love good old recipes to be as is, so I would prefer not disturbing them. Off to this simple recipe…
Blanc Mange | Easy Blancmange
Ingredients
- 3 cups milk seperated
- 1 pc lemon zest
- 1 inch pc cinnamon
- 1/4 cup corn flour refer notes
- 1/4 cup sugar
- A pinch of salt
Instructions
- In a saucepan, add 1 cup of milk, lemon zest and cinnamon and bring it to boil on meduim low heat.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the corn flour and sugar into the remaining 2 cups of milk till all dissolved and smooth.
- Pour slowly into the boiling milk, whisking constantly to avoid lumps.
- Cook on low flame, stirring occasionally to avoid sticking to the bottom, till the mixture turns translucent and slightly thickened.
- Switch out, fish out the cinnamon stick and zest. Discard them.
- Pour into serving cups or a one liter glass pan. Allow to cool completely by loosely wrapping around a cling film and making a small hole for air passage.
- Refrigerate for 3 hours or till completely set.
- Serve cold with topping of choice.
