First things first. Good luck pronouncing this word.
Blancmange used to be a celebration dish, until British school dinners made it into the horror of a powdered packet nightmare. If you make it from scratch, using quality ingredients, it tastes delicious.
Ingredients
1 pint of milk
1 pint of cream
4 oz caster sugar
1 1/4 oz gelatine
½ oz sweet almonds (blanched and crushed into a paste)
The rind of ½ lemon
1 drop almond extract
Method
Put the milk into a saucepan, with the gelatine and lemon rind.
Place over a very low heat until the milk is well-flavoured and the gelatine has dissolved.
Add the almonds and almond extract.
Allow the mixture to come to the boil.
As soon as it boils, strain the mixture through a fine sieve or muslin into a jug.
Add the cream and stir the mixture occasionally until nearly cold. (You can speed this up by placing the jug in a bowl of water with icecubes in it, but make sure to stir continuously. You can colour the mixture here too.)
Let it stand for a few minutes.
Oil the mould.
Pour the mixture carefully into the mould making sure no sediment is poured in. (You can add fruit if you wish.)
Place in the fridge and leave to set.
When ready to serve, turn it out by loosening the edges of the blancmange from the mould, place it on a dish and turn the mould over quickly.
Decorate with whisked cream and fresh fruit.
Definitions:-
To pour: To transfer a liquid from one container to another.
To stir: agitate an ingredient or a number of ingredients using a hand held tool such as a spoon, eg stir the onions until they are lightly browned.
To strain: To pass wet ingredients through a sieve to remove lumps or pieces of food, eg strain the stock to remove any small pieces of meat or flavourings.