By Scott Cameron
Head Chef at Brasserie Ecosse
Blancmange was a staple party dessert in the 1960s and 70s and has fallen out of fashion over the decades. It is similar to a panna cotta but with different key ingredients.
While panna cotta uses only gelatine to set, blancmange uses gelatine and cornflour. For this recipe I have changed the gelatine and cornflour to Iota Carrageenan, harvested from a seaweed in Carrigan head in Northern Ireland, which comes in powered form.
This makes the recipe suitable for vegetarians and still has the classic blancmange texture.
For the Blancmange:
375g milk
125g double cream
60g caster sugar
4g Iota Carrageenan
1 vanilla pod
For the Strawberry Consommé:
250g strawberries
80g caster sugar
For the Black Pepper Tuille:
80g plain flour
80g icing sugar
80g unsalted butter
80g egg whites
Pinch of cracked black pepper
For the Strawberry Jelly:
100g strawberry consommé
1 sheet gelatine
For the Strawberry Gel:
200g strawberry consommé
2g agar agar
For the Basil Sorbet
50g basil
500g water
375g caster Sugar
35g glucose
cocoa nibs
Method:
For this recipe you will need moulds to set your blancmange in. You can use dariole moulds, silicon moulds or even glasses.
Dariole moulds can be heated by dipping them in warm water to release the mixture then tipped onto the plate. Silicon moulds may have to be frozen in order to take blancmange out then defrosted in the fridge.
To make the Basil Sorbet, place the water, sugar and glucose in a pot and bring to a simmer until the glucose and sugar have dissolved. Put in the fridge until chilled.
Put chilled liquid in a liquidiser with the leaves of the basil and blend until smooth.
Pour the liquid through a fine sieve and churn in an ice cream machine until ready. Transfer to the freezer. If you don’t have
an ice cream machine put the sorbet liquid in a container in the freezer and mix every half-hour until frozen.
To Make the strawberry consommé
Slice the strawberries thinly and put into a mixing bowl with sugar. Cover the bowl tightly with cling film and place over a pot of simmering water.
Leave this to cook for 1-2 hours. The strawberries will lose all their colour as it cooks and the sugar will dissolve into the liquid that is extracted from the strawberries.
When it has cooked pour the clear liquid through a fine sieve and reserve. To make the strawberry jelly, take 100g of the consommé and put it into a small pot. Dissolve the gelatine sheet in a small amount of cold water until it has gone soft. Squeeze any excess water from the gelatine and add it to the consommé.
Bring the consommé and gelatine to a gentle heat until the gelatine has completely dissolved and pour into square container lined with cling film.
Place in the fridge to set. Once it has set take the jelly out the container and cut the jelly into squares or use a cutter for your desired shape.
To make the strawberry gel, add the agar agar to the consommé and bring to boil.
Pour this mixture into a container and place in the fridge to set and harden. Once it has set it will be very firm. Place into a liquidiser and blend until smooth or into small measuring jug
and blend with a hand blender until smooth.
Put the gel into a piping bag or squeezy bottle.
To make the blancmange, take 10g of the sugar & mix it with the carrageenan, put to side until ready. Split the vanilla pod in half lengthways and scrape out the seeds. Place both the pods and the seeds into a pot and add the milk, cream and 50g of the sugar.
Gently warm the milk while whisking continuously, when it starts to warm add the sugar and carrageenan mix and keep stirring.
The mixture will thicken as it heats then thin out again as it
gets hotter. Bring boil while whisking then pour through a
sieve into a jug.
Carrageenan set very quickly and will start to set even when it is hot so have your moulds ready.
Pour the mixture into the moulds and chill in the fridge to set.
To make the pepper tuilles, mix all the ingredients in a mixer or with a hand mixer until it is a smooth paste. Spread the mixture evenly on some parchment paper & bake at 180˚C for five minutes until golden brown. When cool break the biscuit into shards.
Brasserie Ecosse, Shore Terrace, Dundee has created this 1960s
retro dessert in honour of the ongoing Mary Quant Exhibition
at the V&A in Dundee which runs
until January 2021.
www.brasserieecosee.co.uk.
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