Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Raspberry and Blueberry Blanc Manger (TWD)


This week's Tuesdays with Dorie (TWD) recipe was chosen by Susan of Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy: Raspberry Blanc-Manger. I've been wanting to try this dessert since I got Baking bcause there is a stunning photo of it in the book. It's a dessert made with milk, cream and sugar, thickened with gelatin, and flavored with ground almonds. Dorie describes it as a sister to panna cotta. While I've never had this dessert before, I do know that I like panna cotta, so I was eager to taste it.


This was essentially a no bake dessert, which was nice since it is so hot right now! It's a simple recipe - just mix some milk, sugar, and ground almonds and bring it to a boil. Add the gelatin to the hot almond milk mixture, then cool it in an ice bath. Once it is cool, you simply fold in some whipped cream and berries and pour it into a mold. I actually did not even heat the almond milk mixture on the stove, I used the microwave!

You are supposed to pour this into an 8 x 2 inch round pan, but my 8 inch round pan isn't quite 2 inches high so I poured most of it into the pan, and then put the rest in two little mini tart pans. It ended up working out well because I sent the large one with work with my husband and then still had the two mini servings for myself :)


I made mine with a combination of blueberries and raspberries. The raspberries were fresh, but the blueberries were frozen. To avoid a blue streaky dessert, I simply defrosted the blueberries ahead of time, and drained all excess liquids. I decorated garnished the top with fresh raspberries and some blueberry coulis.

I had no problems unmolding this dessert. After dunking the round pan in some hot water, it easily unmolded onto a plate. The tartlets I had to get creative with. I simply warmed the edges of my mini tart pans with towel soaked in some hot water (they have a removable bottom so I didn't want to dunk them in hot water and have it leak in). With the removable bottom made it easy to invert and unmold it onto a plate.


This was a really good dessert. It would be great for entertaining because it's so simple to make, yet would impress most guests. It was creamy without being too heavy. The texture wasn't completely smooth due to the ground almonds that flavored it, but that did not bother me. I have to say that I prefer the completely smooth texture of panna cotta over the blanc manger, however.


Thanks Susan, for picking this recipe. If you would like the recipe, you can find it here. If you visit the TWD Blogroll, you'll see how much everyone else enjoyed this creamy treat!

(I'm also submitting this to the Click Bi-Colour July Event hosted by Jugalbandi.)

* Recipes notes:
- I used whole almonds and ground them in my food processor. It didn't affect the color of my dessert too much, but if you want it as white as possible then I would recommend blanching and peeling your almonds first. Just toss them in boiling water until they start floating to the top, then rinse with cold water. The peels should come right off if you do that.
- You can use whatever molds you would like for this dessert. For individual servings, consider using small ramekins or small tart pans.
- For more tips, click here.

23 comments:

  1. Wow, it looks great! I sometimes don't really get into the TWD desserts, but this one looks like something I'd want to try. Do you think I can get away with not using the ground almonds? I agree on the smooth texture, I think the ground almonds would creep my tongue out... :)

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  2. That spoonful with the split raspberry is so appealing. Lovely!

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  3. Beautiful and delicious dessert!

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  4. I second that motion! ...what a beautiful dessert!

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  5. Very pretty with the paleness of the blanc manger and the richness of the raspberries and sauce.
    ~ingrid

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  6. Great job, it looks fab. I love the mini fluted tarts. I went the non-fruit--chocolate route with this one. The flavor is great, I'm just not big on too whipped creamy of desserts. I ended up turning it in to ice cream!
    Glad you liked it.

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  7. That is stunning! I bet it tastes as good as it looks~ :o)

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  8. Gorgeous! I love the way you added your coulis. I didn't really think about it before I spooned it on, and it covered nearly the entire top. Lesson learned for next time.

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  9. this is an elegant and exquisite dessert, and it's one that i've neither made nor tasted. gorgeous results, jaime, and perfect pictures!

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  10. I love the flute that the tart pan made on the blanc-manger. I didn't even think of that. It looks fantastic.

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  11. Absolutely beautiful, and very convenient that it didn't fit in the big pan so you got to try it yourself! I've actually never had pana cotta, I guess I should try it one of these days.

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  12. Your blanc manger is beautiful! I love the fluted edges from the tart pan.

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  13. I didn't realize the similarity between this and a panna cotta until you pointed it out. And I love panna cotta!

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  14. How'd you manage to pinpoint a raspberry and slice right through it?! Just stunning!

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  15. It looks fabulous! The mini tart pan makes a great shape.

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  16. Your blanc-manger is just stunning!

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  17. I loved this and isn't it so pretty? This one really surprised me. So easy and so delicious for summer fruit. Beautiful photo Jaime.
    AmyRuth

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  18. Your blanc manger looks perfect. I love the blueberry/raspberry combo.

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  19. This looks so creamy and light! What a perfect ending to a summer meal!

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