Blancmange

I was recently asked if I could make any vegan recipes for a friend of mine. Historic recipes are incredibly hard to make vegan because they had no understanding of the concept. I find that substitutions do not always work well, but I got lucky with one particular recipe that I want to make. This recipe is blancmange, which it turns out was sometimes made with arrowroot or Irish moss (both plant-based) as a jellying agent instead of isinglass (the air bladder of a sturgeon) or calves' feet.  This first one is not going to be vegan, but I will work on an updated recipe that includes  no milk.

Some of you may not have heard of blancmange, being unacquainted with either French cuisine or historical cooking. While I have never had the French version of the dish there are many variations on it from a number of cultures. Some of them I am sure you have heard of including: Bavarian Cream, Haupia, Panna Cotta and, the one we all know and love, Vanilla pudding. Although this particular recipe is not flavored with vanilla, it does have a similar consistency and color.

Arrow Root Blanc-mange
Take a tea-cup full of arrow root, put it into a large bowl, and dissolve it in a little cold water. When it is melted, pour off the water, and let the arrow root remain undisturbed. Boil in half a pint of unskimmed milk, (made very sweet with white sugar,) a beaten nutmeg, and eight or nine blades of mace, mixed with the juice and grated peel of a lemon. When it has boiled long enough to be highly flavoured, strain it into a pint and a half of very rich milk or cream, and add a quarter pound of sugar. Boil the whole for ten minutes; then strain it, boiling hot, over the arrow root. Stir it well and frequently till cold; then put it into moulds and let it set to congeal.

So....  Some of the ingredients used in this recipe might not be familiar to you.  The first of these is arrowroot, which honestly I was not very familiar with myself.  Arrowroot is a starchy root vegetable which can be found in some specialty food stores.  Including this one, which has reasonable prices and keeps their stock very fresh: padutchteaspicecompany.com (although, I am slightly biased because I have worked there).  It comes as a powder with a consistency and texture similar to cornstarch, especially when it is mixed with water, but doesn't have the same pasty taste.  The second ingredient is mace.  It might be more familiar because it is sometimes used in baking.  It has a similar flavor to nutmeg, but is sharper and can impart an orange-y color to foods.  Interestingly, mace and nutmeg come from the same plant, nutmeg is the seed and mace a lacy covering over it within the fruit.  This can be found at your local grocery store dried and ground.

If you do not care for the flavor of nutmeg or mace, you may substitute those two ingredients and the lemon zest for 2 tsp. vanilla and omit the associated steps.

Ingredients:

3/4 c. arrowroot, with just enough water to mix it to a thick paste.
4 c. milk
1 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. mace
zest of one lemon

1.  Measure arrowroot into a large bowl and cover with enough water to make a thin paste.  Set aside.

2. Combine nutmeg, mace and lemon zest into cheesecloth, self-filling tea bag or other container to steep spices in the other ingredients.

3. Combine milk and sugar in a saucepan and heat, with the "tea bag" over medium-low heat.  Steep the spices in the milk until the mixture is fragrant and the milk takes on a yellow-ish hue.   Discard the spices.

4. Continue to cook the milk mixture over medium-low heat until it begins to clarify and thicken, about ten minutes.  Pour the liquid over the arrowroot mixture, and stir until all of the arrowroot is dissolved into the milk.

5.  Allow the mixture to cool, stirring frequently until it is slightly warm to the touch.  Pour into a clean/decorative container and chill until it reaches pudding consistency.

Notations:
References to thickening agents such as arrowroot, calves' feet and Irish Moss can be found in Miss Leslie's 75 Receipts for Pastries, Cakes and Sweetmeats, Mrs. Hale's The Good Housekeeper and Mrs. Mason's The Young Housewife.