Apricot Blancmange Recipes

BLANCMANGE

Steps:

• Grind the nuts in a food processor to medium fine. Combine them with 2/3 cup of milk, lemon peel, cardamom and 1/2 cup of the cream in a small saucepan, and bring to just below a simmer, over medium heat. Turn off heat. Let steep 15 minutes. Sprinkle gelatin over remaining milk in a wide shallow bowl or gratin dish. Let bloom 10 minutes.
• Strain nut-milk-cream through a chinois or a sieve lined with a double layer of cheesecloth into a bowl. Firmly press the liquid through the cloth.
• Return the liquid to a clean saucepan, add the sugar and salt and heat over low, stirring until dissolved. Add the bloomed gelatin and stir well until thoroughly dissolved. Don't let the mixture come to a simmer. Stir in the vanilla. Set pan into a bowl of ice and cold water, and stir occasionally until cooler than your finger and the consistency of egg whites. If it sets too much, remove from cold water and whisk well.
• Beat the remaining cup of cream to just past soft peaks. Add a little of the whipped cream to the jelling nut-milk mixture to loosen, then add to the remaining whipped cream, folding thoroughly but gently. Brush a 6-to-7-inch cake pan or mold completely with vegetable oil. Add blancmange to oiled mold. Cover the surface directly with plastic, and chill, at least 6 hours or overnight. To serve, remove the plastic wrap, and lightly run a sharp knife around the blancmange's edge. If you've used an old, pretty mold, you may have to dunk it briefly in hot water to get it to release. Put an inverted plate over its top, and flip. Top with cherries or candied fruit or nothing at all.

BLANC-MANGER (BLANCMANGE)

Steps:

• mix the fruits and sugar in a food processor (except a few for the decoration). Pass it through a fine-mesh sieve to obtain a coulis. Refrigerate.
• soak gelatin in cold water for 10 minutes. Split the vanilla bean in half, lengthwise. Pour almond milk and heavy cream into a saucepan. Add sugar and vanilla pod, bring to a boil and let it simmer for a few minutes. Take the pan from the heat, add drained gelatin to the hot mixture, and mix. Pour it in a shallow dish, cover with plastic film in contact and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
• Whisk whipping cream with an electric mixer into whipped cream. Take the milk preparation from the refrigerator. Add a few spoons of cream to the almond blancmange and mix with a hand whisk. Then pour the blancmange into the whipped cream. Gently mix by lifting the mixture with the whisk.
• Transfer the blancmange to a pastry bag with the cut tip and push it into glasses/small glass jars. Refrigerate for about 2 hours.
• pour 1 to 2 tablespoons red fruit coulis on top of the blancmange. Decorate with fresh fruit and serve.

APRICOT BLANCMANGE

Steps:

• Combine the cornflour with a little of the milk to form a smooth paste.
• Place the remaining milk into a medium saucepan with the sugar.
• Bring to the boil, stirring.
• Remove from the heat and stirm in the cornflour.
• Return to the heat, stirring until mixture boils and thickens.
• Remove from the heat.
• Stir in the vanilla and pureed apricots.
• Pour into 6 x 1/2 cup moulds and refrigerate until firm.
• When ready to serve, loosen edges and un-mould onto a serving plate.
• Serve with extra canned apricots if desired.

BLANCMANGE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spread almonds in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet; bake 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack and let cool slightly. Pulse almonds in a food processor until finely ground. Heat 4 cups whole milk, 1 1/2 cups water, sugar, and cinnamon sticks in a medium saucepan over medium until hot but not bubbling. Stir in almonds. Transfer to a liquid-measuring cup and let steep, covered, in refrigerator overnight or up to 2 days. (The longer the mixture steeps, the more flavor the blancmange will have.)
• Fill a 4- to 4 1/2-cup or two 2- to 2 1/2-cup molds with ice water. Rinse a large piece of heavy-duty cheesecloth (if thin, use a double layer) in hot water; wring as dry as possible. Place a sieve over a bowl, line sieve with prepared cheesecloth, and pour in almond mixture. Let almond milk drip through 30 minutes, then carefully gather up ends of cheesecloth and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Almond milk should be smooth; if any pieces of almond pass through, strain through a very fine sieve. Discard cinnamon sticks. Pour almond milk into a large liquid-measuring cup (you should have at least 3 cups) and add enough of the remaining 1 cup whole milk to make 4 cups liquid.
• In a medium saucepan, combine cream and 1 cup almond milk. Sprinkle gelatin over top; let stand until softened, 5 minutes. Heat almond-milk mixture over medium-low, stirring occasionally, until gelatin is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir gelatin mixture into remaining almond milk in measuring cup. Remove ice water from mold but do not dry mold (this will make the blancmange easier to unmold later). Strain almond-milk mixture through a sieve into mold to fill. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until firm, about 6 hours or overnight.
• To unmold, quickly dip mold into a hot-water bath to loosen pudding from mold, or use a hot wet towel that has been wrung out. Place a serving platter over mold and quickly invert. Jiggle to loosen; remove mold. Serve with currants, if desired.

BLANC MANGE (ENGLISH STYLE)

Steps:

• Place 1 cup of the milk into a saucepan. Add lemon peel and cinnamon sticks. Bring milk to a simmer over medium heat.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and sugar. Whisk remaining milk into the cornstarch mixture. When the milk in the pan begins to simmer, pour the cornstarch mixture into the saucepan in a thin steady stream. Whisk vigorously and increase heat just a bit to bring the mixture to a gentle boil. Allow the mixture to boil for about 20 seconds while continuing to whisk, then remove from heat. Remove the lemon peel and cinnamon sticks. Stir in the pinch of cinnamon and, if using, the vanilla.
• Pour into a dish or mold, and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or overnight. Garnish with shaved chocolate just before serving.

BLANCMANGE

Steps:

• Mix the cornstarch, sugar, and salt with 1/4 cup of cold milk.
• In a small pot, heat the remaining milk over low heat (Do not boil!).
• While whisking, slowly add the cold milk mixture to the heated milk, stirring constantly, in a heavy bottomed pan or a double boiler.
• Continue to cook over low heat, whisking constantly, for 15 minutes until the raw taste of the cornstarch disappears and it thickens. (Do not boil!). It will thicken all at once at the end of the cooking time.
• Let cool, then add the vanilla.
• Cover and chill.
• For Chocolate Blancmange, when you heat the milk, add 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate and stir until smooth.
• Can pour into decorative 1/4-1/2 cup dishes.

BLANCMANGES WITH RASPBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly oil six 1/2-cup ramekins.
• Spread almonds in a shallow baking pan and toast in oven until pale golden, 7 to 8 minutes. Cool almonds completely.
• In a food processor process almonds with milk 2 minutes, or until mixture is very thick but not completely smooth.
• Rinse a thin kitchen towel in cold water and wring out as much water as possible. Spread towel in a large sieve set over a bowl or large glass measure and pour almond mixture into towel. Wrap towel around mixture and squeeze almond milk (about 1 cup) from towel into bowl or measure, discarding almonds. Stir in almond extract and a pinch salt.
• In a small bowl sprinkle gelatin over water and let stand 1 minute.
• In a small saucepan combine almond milk and sugar and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Add gelatin mixture and cook, stirring, until gelatin is dissolved. Transfer almond mixture to a metal bowl set in a larger bowl of ice and cold water and cool, stirring constantly, just until the consistency of raw egg white. Remove bowl from ice water.
• In a bowl with an electric mixer beat cream until it holds stiff peaks and whisk about one fourth into almond mixture to lighten. Fold in remaining cream gently but thoroughly and spoon mixture into ramekins. Chill blancmanges, covered loosely with plastic wrap, until set, at least 2 hours and up to 24.
• In a blender or food processor purée raspberries with syrup and force through a fine sieve into a bowl. Sauce may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.
• Fill a small bowl with very hot or boiling water and dip ramekins, 1 at a time, into water 10 seconds. Unmold each blancmange onto a dessert plate and serve with sauce.