Kilo L30R Traditional Jelly Mould-Red, Plastic,5.91 x 3.94 x 5.91 cm; 70 Grams

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Pour almond milk and heavy cream into asaucepan. Add sugar and vanilla pod (photo 3), bring to a boil, and let it simmer for a few minutes. You can store any leftover blancmange in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Be sure to cover it well! Make More Fine Desserts In a saucepan, heat the remaining 3½ cups (28oz/790ml) of milk over medium-low heat until it starts to steam. Historic cook books provide a reasonable chronology albeit a random selection of texts: Raffald (1769) bases hers on calf’s feet jelly (home made gelatine) but still calls for bitter almonds; Acton (1845), Beeton (1861 & c1902) and Cassell’s (c1890) all ask for isinglass. Isinglass produced a fine, crystal clear gel (it is still used to clarify some wines), but by the end of the C19th century it had given way to the relatively new and convenient ‘instant’ or dried gelatine that emerged with new processing technologies, and many recipes that used isinglass were re-written in gelatine’s favour. Beeton also includes an ‘Arrowroot blancmange’ , a precursor to cornflour blancmange. The Kookaburra cookbook (1912), The Goulburn and The Golden Wattle cookery books (post 1930) all use gelatine. Interestingly the Kookaburra Cookery book recipe is enriched with eggs, rendering it, in the purists’ eyes, a custard pudding rather than a blancmange; the Golden Wattle also includes a ‘Cornflour mould’ which is almost identical to The Commonsense Cookery Book (1914 – 2014 editions) balncmange. The wash-up from all this they are essentially, variations on a sweetened milk pudding with a flavouring of some kind – rose or blossom water, laurel or bay leaves, lemon peel, ‘essence’– almond or vanilla perhaps. Several recipes instruct that you stand the blancmange mould in a shallow basin of iced or cold water until it sets – the coldest water Nina did knew of on a hot summer’s day was a few metres below ground in the well. A clever marketing exercise Decorate your blanc-manger with mango ribbons or wedges, fresh pomegranate or kumquats, half of the canned or fresh apricot, pineapple, or kiwi cut into cubes.

If set in moulds: Dip the mould in hot water for 10-20 seconds to loosen the blancmange from the edges. Trace a knife around the inner edge of the mould if needed, then tip upside down onto a plate. Drizzle with coulis. To make red fruit coulis,mix the fruits and sugar in afood processor, except a few for the decoration (photo 1).Vintage Cakes: Timeless Recipes for Cupcakes, Flips, Rolls, Layer, Angel, Bundt, Chiffon, and Icebox Cakes for Today’s Sweet Tooth

Sugar– Regular white sugar is fine, sub with brown sugar, coconut sugar or honey if you prefer. We used white sugar in the blanc manger and raw sugar in the coulis for a richer berry flavour. Stir the almonds by degrees into a quart of cream, alternately with half a pound of powdered white sugar, and adding a teaspoon of beaten mace. Put in the melted isinglass and stir the whole very hard. Then put it into a porcelain skillet and let it boil fast for a quarter of an hour. Strain it into a pitcher and pour it into your molds, which must first be wetted with cold water. Let it stand in a cool place undisturbed till it has entirely congealed. Then wrap a cloth dipped in hot water round the molds, loosen the blancmange round the edges with a knife, and turn it out into glass dishes. Instead of using a figure-mold, you may set it to congeal in tea-cups or wine glasses. If the blancmange is "lumpy" after adding it to the whipped cream, continue to mix gently until it becomes homogeneous. In one teacup of water, boil until dissolved one ounce of isinglass or of patent gelatin (which is better). Stir it continually while boiling. Then squeeze the juice of a lemon upon a cup of fine, white sugar. Stir the sugar into a quart of rich cream and half a pint of Madeira or sherry wine. When it is well mixed, add the dissolved isinglass or gelatin, stir all well together and pour it into molds previously wet with cold water. Set the molds upon ice, let them stand until their contents are hard and cold, then serve with sugar and cream or custard sauce. You can make a chocolate blancmange as well! Whisk 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder and 2/3 cup finely chopped dark chocolate into your slurry and proceed as directed!Transfer the blancmange to a pastry bag with the cut tip and push it into glasses/small glass jars. Refrigerate for about 2 hours. Use a Whisk– Use a whisk instead of a spoon to stir the blancmange as this will reduce the risk of lumps. This also works for other milk-based puddings, custards or white sauces like bechamel. To serve,pour 1 to 2 tablespoons red fruit coulis on top of the blancmange. Decorate with fresh fruit and serve (photo 6). PHOTO 5 PHOTO 6 Expert tips

Blancmange may be colored green by mixing a little juice of spinach with the cream. Cochineal* which has been infused in a little brandy for half an hour will color it red and saffron will give it a bright yellow tinge.

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bitter almonds– a variety of almond with a bitter taste sometimes used as flavoring or in oils. The almond variety sold by the food industry today is the sweet almond. It is served cold in glasses, ramekins, small glass jars, or as a dessert set in a mold. Authentically white, it can also be made in different colors. Blancmange variations Whisk 1 cup (8oz/225ml) milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to form a slurry. Then, whisk in the sugar and vanilla paste or extract. Set aside. It is best to make it the day before it is wanted. Put into a bowl an ounce of isinglass (in warm weather you must take an ounce and a quarter). Pour on as much rose water as will cover the isinglass and set it on hot ashes to dissolve. Blanch one-fourth pound of shelled almonds, (half sweet and half bitter*) and beat them to a paste in a mortar, one at a time, moistening them all the while with a little rose water. Blancmange is delicious all on its own or served with various toppings, for example, berry coulis (the recipe is below).