Blancmange: Almond Milk Dessert

How to make almond milk

1. Making blancmange at home comes down to two simple operations: making almond milk and thickening it. Of course, you can buy the milk in any store, as it is sold and very popular with vegetarians and people who are lactose intolerant; in that case you will need 3-3.5 cups. But, as they say, a dish you make yourself tastes three times better. So we will need raw, unroasted almonds.

2. Peel the almonds. If the almonds are not peeled, they have an orange-brown skin that must be removed. Otherwise the dessert will not be white.

   

   Put the almonds in a bowl and cover with boiling water for 10 minutes so the skin softens. Rinse the almonds with cold water so they do not burn your fingers. The skin then comes off easily. By the way, if you have “bitter” almonds, take 1-2 “nuts” and peel them too.

   

3. Soak the almonds. Put the peeled almonds, including the bitter ones, in a bowl or cup and pour over two cups of boiled water (400 ml), slightly warm but not hot. The almonds then need to soak for several hours. Usually 3 hours is enough, but you can soak them longer if you like. The kernels soak up the water well and slightly “open up”, which is easy to see.

   

4. Grind the almonds together with the water. Put all the almonds, together with the water they soaked in, into the blender jar and grind to the consistency of fine grits.

   

   In the old days, cooks did it very simply. They put the swollen kernels in a mortar and began to crush them, adding cold water. From time to time they poured off the bright white “milk”.

5. Strain the almond milk. It is best to do this through a clean, tightly woven cloth. I use the little sachet bag in which I add herbs and spices to soups. While straining, squeeze out the liquid well.

   

   Put all the leftovers back in the bowl, pour over two more cups of boiled water and leave for a few hours, about 3 hours. Then squeeze out the milk once more. In the end you will have 3-3.5 cups of fresh almond milk (600–700 ml).

How to make blancmange

1. Gelatin is most often used to thicken blancmange. It used to be obtained by boiling fish bones or calves’ feet. Rice flour, eggs and so on were also used. Modern instant gelatin solves all these complicated problems. You need only a minimal amount of gelatin for the dessert to be delicate. On the other hand, the set jelly must come out of the mold without falling apart.

2. Soak the gelatin. I poured half a cup of cold water (100 ml) over 8 g of gelatin, and it swells in 5-10 minutes.

   

3. Combine the almond milk with the sugar, bring to a boil and add the gelatin. In a saucepan, combine all the almond milk with 1/2 cup of white sugar (90 g). Add vanilla or vanilla sugar, to taste. But do not forget that the almond flavor is easily overpowered by vanilla, so do not overdo it. If the milk contains bitter almond, add even less vanilla, literally a trace. Put the saucepan over medium heat and bring the milk to a boil, stirring. Pour in the swollen gelatin, remove the pan from the heat and stir until the gelatin has completely dissolved.

   

4. Pour the mixture into molds and chill. It is ideal to use silicone molds, which is very convenient. So they do not get squashed when you carry them, I recommend putting them on a baking sheet of suitable size or in a glass baking dish. The molds are often greased inside with a little fat so the dessert comes out well after setting. In my opinion, it is better to dip the mold in hot water before unmolding: the result is the same, but the surface of the dessert is smooth and free of grease marks.

   

   Almond milk with gelatin thickens very quickly. For the best result, keep the blancmange in the fridge for more than 2 hours, preferably 3 hours.

Serving

1. Unmold the dessert. Serve on flat dessert plates. Dip the bottom of the mold with the jelly into distinctly hot water for 5 seconds. The dessert will come away from the sides nicely and stay whole. If necessary, dip it once more, but try not to let the top layer melt.

   

2. Turn the set dessert out onto a plate; how much per serving is up to you. The dessert is usually drizzled with syrup or a not-too-thick jam and decorated with fruits and berries. In old cookbooks I have seen pictures of very lavish presentations where there was more decoration than dessert. So do not be shy.

   

   If you like, for the almond milk you can use a mix of water and regular milk, or cream. If you do not peel the almonds, the dessert will be a wonderful orange color, which many people like. Aromatic spirits are often added to the mixture: cognac, brandy, rum, liqueurs, though not coffee liqueur, as coffee and almond do not go well together. You can make a “layered” dessert by adding colored ingredients to the milk.