Biancomangiare
A descendant of the medieval blancmange that survives in Sicily as a dessert in its purest form: almond milk thickened with starch, with no cow's milk, no eggs and no gelatine. The name means white food. All the flavour comes from almonds, so the milk is made at home — from almonds soaked overnight, blended and squeezed through muslin. Shop almond milk is too thin and too weak for this effect.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Soaking the almonds 480 min
- Almond milk 20 min
- Cooking 10 min
- Chilling 240 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneSoak the almonds overnight
Cover the blanched almonds with cold water and soak 8 hours in the fridge. Soaked almonds soften and give more milk when blended. Dry ones give thin, gritty milk.
Ingredients: 250 g blanched almonds · 1000 ml water
Blend the almonds with fresh water
Drain the almonds, add a litre of fresh cold water and blend for a full 2 minutes at top speed. The liquid should be white and thick as milk. A shorter blend leaves much of the flavour in the pulp.
Ingredients: 250 g blanched almonds · 1000 ml water
Two minutes at full speed — white as milk.Squeeze the milk through muslin
Pour through muslin and squeeze the pulp dry by hand. A litre of water yields about 850 ml of milk. Keep the pulp — dried in the oven it becomes almond flour for biscuits.
Ingredients: 250 g blanched almonds · 1000 ml water
Squeezed dry — the pulp becomes almond flour.Slake the starch in cold milk
Set aside a cup of cold almond milk and whisk the cornflour into it until smooth. Heat the rest with the sugar, lemon peel, cinnamon and salt. Starch tipped into hot milk lumps instantly.
Ingredients: 120 g sugar · 80 g cornflour · 1 pcs lemon · 1 pcs cinnamon · 1 pinch salt
Cook until thick and glossy
Pour the slurry into the hot milk and cook, stirring constantly, 5–6 minutes, until thick and glossy. Cook one minute more after it thickens — undercooked starch leaves a floury taste.
Ingredients: 120 g sugar · 80 g cornflour · 1 pcs lemon · 1 pcs cinnamon · 1 pinch salt
Glossy and thick — plus a minute after it sets.Remove the aromatics and fill the moulds
Lift out the lemon peel and cinnamon and pour the pudding into moulds rinsed with cold water. A wet mould prevents sticking — a fat-free pudding clings to dry glass and will not come out whole.
Ingredients: 120 g sugar · 80 g cornflour · 1 pcs lemon · 1 pcs cinnamon · 1 pinch salt
Chill four hours
Cool and chill at least 4 hours, until fully set. Starch binds completely only when cold — after two hours biancomangiare falls apart when turned out.
Ingredients: 120 g sugar · 80 g cornflour · 1 pcs lemon · 1 pcs cinnamon · 1 pinch salt
Turn out and garnish
Run a knife around the edge, invert the mould onto a plate and give it a short shake. In Sicily biancomangiare is set on a lemon leaf. Dust with cinnamon and pistachios and serve well chilled.
Ingredients: ½ tsp ground cinnamon · 30 g pistachios
Before you start
The cow's milk version
In northern Italy biancomangiare is made with cow's milk and almonds, sometimes even with gelatine, bringing it close to panna cotta. The Sicilian version of pure almond milk is lighter and lactose free.
A few bitter almonds
Sicilians add two or three bitter almonds to the sweet ones for an intense marzipan aroma. Hard to buy outside Italy; a drop of almond extract added at the end of cooking stands in.
Two days in the fridge
Biancomangiare keeps two days in the fridge in its moulds under film. Almond milk quickly picks up fridge smells, so the film is essential. Turn out only before serving.
