Microwave Blancmange Recipes

Steps:

• Grind the nuts in a food processor to medium fine. Combine them with 2/3 cup of milk, lemon peel, cardamom and 1/2 cup of the cream in a small saucepan, and bring to just below a simmer, over medium heat. Turn off heat. Let steep 15 minutes. Sprinkle gelatin over remaining milk in a wide shallow bowl or gratin dish. Let bloom 10 minutes.
• Strain nut-milk-cream through a chinois or a sieve lined with a double layer of cheesecloth into a bowl. Firmly press the liquid through the cloth.
• Return the liquid to a clean saucepan, add the sugar and salt and heat over low, stirring until dissolved. Add the bloomed gelatin and stir well until thoroughly dissolved. Don't let the mixture come to a simmer. Stir in the vanilla. Set pan into a bowl of ice and cold water, and stir occasionally until cooler than your finger and the consistency of egg whites. If it sets too much, remove from cold water and whisk well.
• Beat the remaining cup of cream to just past soft peaks. Add a little of the whipped cream to the jelling nut-milk mixture to loosen, then add to the remaining whipped cream, folding thoroughly but gently. Brush a 6-to-7-inch cake pan or mold completely with vegetable oil. Add blancmange to oiled mold. Cover the surface directly with plastic, and chill, at least 6 hours or overnight. To serve, remove the plastic wrap, and lightly run a sharp knife around the blancmange's edge. If you've used an old, pretty mold, you may have to dunk it briefly in hot water to get it to release. Put an inverted plate over its top, and flip. Top with cherries or candied fruit or nothing at all.

Steps:

• Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a saucepan. Slowly add milk while stirring. Bring to a simmer over low heat and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in vanilla extract and pour into four 1/2-cup custard cups. Refrigerate until thickened, about 1 hour.

Steps:

• Place 1 cup of the milk into a saucepan. Add lemon peel and cinnamon sticks. Bring milk to a simmer over medium heat.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and sugar. Whisk remaining milk into the cornstarch mixture. When the milk in the pan begins to simmer, pour the cornstarch mixture into the saucepan in a thin steady stream. Whisk vigorously and increase heat just a bit to bring the mixture to a gentle boil. Allow the mixture to boil for about 20 seconds while continuing to whisk, then remove from heat. Remove the lemon peel and cinnamon sticks. Stir in the pinch of cinnamon and, if using, the vanilla.
• Pour into a dish or mold, and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or overnight. Garnish with shaved chocolate just before serving.

Steps:

• Combine milk, cornstarch, salt, and sugar in a 4 cup microwave safe bowl. Mix until sugar and cornstarch are dissolved. Cook in microwave on high until the mixture starts to foam up. Stir, then continue to cook, stirring at intervals, until it becomes thick and smooth. Remove from microwave and add butter and vanilla, stirring well, then pour into serving dishes. May be served warm or cold.
• NOTE: Sugar substitute may be used in place of sugar but should be added with the vanilla after removal from the microwave. Butter is not necessary but gives it a richer flavor. If cooked too long, mixture will lose thickness.

Steps:

• Fill a large bowl with ice cubes and cold water. Have ready a smaller bowl that fits into the ice-water bath.
• Whip cream until it holds soft peaks. Refrigerate.
• Bring milk, almonds and sugar to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally to make certain the sugar dissolves. While milk heats, put gelatin and 3 tablespoons cold water in a microwave-safe bowl or a saucepan. When the gelatin is soft and spongy - it should take about 2 minutes - heat it in a microwave oven for 15 seconds (or cook it over low heat to dissolve). Stir the gelatin into the hot milk mixture, and remove the saucepan from heat.
• Pour the hot almond milk into the small reserved bowl, and set the bowl into the ice-water bath. Stir in kirsch or vanilla, and continue to stir until the mixture is cool but still liquid; you do not want the milk to gel in the bowl.
• Very gently fold the cold whipped cream into the almond milk with a rubber spatula, then fold in the berries. Spoon the blanc-manger into an 8-inch cake pan that is 2 inches high, and refrigerate until set, about 2 hours. The blanc-manger can be covered and kept in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
• To unmold the blanc-manger, dip the cake pan up to its rim in hot water for 5 seconds, then wipe the pan and invert the blanc-manger onto a serving plate. Serve immediately or chill until needed. Serve raspberry coulis on the side.

Steps:

• Mix the cornstarch, sugar, and salt with 1/4 cup of cold milk.
• In a small pot, heat the remaining milk over low heat (Do not boil!).
• While whisking, slowly add the cold milk mixture to the heated milk, stirring constantly, in a heavy bottomed pan or a double boiler.
• Continue to cook over low heat, whisking constantly, for 15 minutes until the raw taste of the cornstarch disappears and it thickens. (Do not boil!). It will thicken all at once at the end of the cooking time.
• Let cool, then add the vanilla.
• Cover and chill.
• For Chocolate Blancmange, when you heat the milk, add 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate and stir until smooth.
• Can pour into decorative 1/4-1/2 cup dishes.