Blancmange made with cornflour
Print recipeIngredients
- 2 tablespoons cornflour
- 2 cups milk
- 1 heaped tablespoon sugar (or to taste)
- 1 bay leaf or slice of lemon peel
- 3 drops essence - vanilla, rosewater, lemon
- colouring (optional)
- fresh fruit or jelly, to serve
Note
This recipe is adapted from The Commonsense Cookery book, 1961 edition. It suggested using a peach leaf for flavour, which is a rather nice touch, but I didn't have one to hand to try out. The 2014 Centenary edition has a modern variation, with more milk and less sugar, and the peach leaf is lost to history. The bay leaf introduces a subtle and interesting hint of flavour, which you might want to try for a change.
Directions
| Blend the cornflour with 1/4 cup of the milk in a small dish or cup. Heat the remaining milk in a small saucepan with the sugar, bay leaf or piece of lemon rind. When it is almost at a boil, remove pan from the heat, remove leaf or peel, stir in the blended cornflour and stir well. Return to the heat and bring to the boil, reduce heat to a steady simmer and cook for three minutes, stirring. Add essence and colouring, if using. | |
| Rinse a mould in cold water, shake off excess water but leaving it quite wet, pour mixture into the mould. Refrigerate until set. When ready to serve,loosen around the edge of the mould, invert mould over a serving plate and allow the balncmange to slip from mould. Serve surrounded with fresh fruit or colourful jelly. | |
| Cook's tip: you may have to place a warm damp cloth over the mould for half a minute or so to help the bakncmange to release cleanly. Silicon moulds are much easier to release than traditional metal, glass or ceramic | |