Classic Blancmange

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   How do you make a delicious classic blancmange at home? It's very simple and fairly quick. Start by gathering the ingredients on the list. You can use any milk: cow's, almond, coconut, and so on. I made mine with store-bought almond milk. You can also make almond milk yourself—blend blanched almonds, soak them in milk overnight, then strain the mixture through a sieve or cheesecloth.

2. Step 2:

   

   Pour 50 ml of cold milk over the gelatin and let it bloom for 7–15 minutes, depending on the granule size. You can use instant gelatin or regular dessert gelatin.

3. Step 3:

   

   While the gelatin blooms, pour 800 ml of milk into a saucepan and add the sugar. Adjust the sugar to taste—before pouring the mixture into molds, give it a taste and add more if you'd like. Set the milk and sugar over medium heat and bring to a boil.

4. Step 4:

   

   While the milk heats, stir the cornstarch into the remaining 150 ml of cold milk, breaking up any lumps until smooth.

5. Step 5:

   

   Pour the hot sweetened milk into the cornstarch mixture and stir, then pour it all back into the saucepan. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil and cook for 3–5 minutes, or longer, until well thickened. Watch that the milk doesn't scorch on the bottom.

6. Step 6:

   

   At the end, pour in the bloomed gelatin and stir well.

7. Step 7:

   

   Take the milk pudding off the heat. It will still be pourable but will thicken gradually. At this point you can flavor the dessert with a little almond extract, if you used almond or cow's milk. If you used coconut milk, skip the almond extract or use coconut extract instead.

8. Step 8:

   

   Pour the mixture into silicone molds or dessert cups and let it cool at room temperature. Then refrigerate for 6–8 hours to set completely.

9. Step 9:

   

   If you used dessert cups, serve right in them; if you used silicone molds, carefully invert them onto a small plate and unmold the dessert. Serve cold, garnished with fresh berries and mint. Enjoy!