flipCoconut Blancmange
Coconut Blancmange
Why this dish? Martinican festivities and baptisms end with coconut blancmange, cool and trembling. Césaire, attached to tropical fruits and the sweets of the land, found in this coconut milk dessert the sweet memory of Creole childhood.
Cream set with coconut milk, flavored with lime zest and cinnamon, unmolded very cold. Sweet, wobbly, it is the sweet note of great days.
After the chili and the rum, you need a sweetness, don't you? Coconut blancmange is the tenderness of our festivities. We grated fresh coconut, squeezed the milk by hand, flavored it with a zest of lime and a hint of cinnamon. We let it set in the cool — a luxury, in those days! — and unmolded it, trembling, on a plate. Believe me, see this white wobbling: it is childhood coming back to you whole.
- •Fresh coconut — one large (coconut milk)
- •Cane sugar — to taste (sweetness)
- •Lime (zest) — one (flavor)
- •Cinnamon — one stick (flavor)
Coconut Blancmange
Cream set with coconut milk, flavored with lime zest and cinnamon, unmolded very cold. Sweet, wobbly, it is the sweet note of great days.
Why this dish? Martinican festivities and baptisms end with coconut blancmange, cool and trembling. Césaire, attached to tropical fruits and the sweets of the land, found in this coconut milk dessert the sweet memory of Creole childhood.
After the chili and the rum, you need a sweetness, don't you? Coconut blancmange is the tenderness of our festivities. We grated fresh coconut, squeezed the milk by hand, flavored it with a zest of lime and a hint of cinnamon. We let it set in the cool — a luxury, in those days! — and unmolded it, trembling, on a plate. Believe me, see this white wobbling: it is childhood coming back to you whole.
Ingredients (period version)
- Fresh coconut — one large (coconut milk)
- Cane sugar — to taste (sweetness)
- Lime (zest) — one (flavor)
- Cinnamon — one stick (flavor)
Ingredients
- Coconut milk — 40 cl (base)
- Milk — 20 cl (base)
- Sugar — 100 g (sweetness)
- Agar-agar — 2 g (or 4 gelatin leaves) (setting agent)
- Lime zest — 1 (flavor)
- Cinnamon — 1/2 tsp (flavor)
Method
- Heat the coconut milk, milk, sugar, zest and cinnamon without boiling.
- Add agar-agar, bring to a simmer for 1 to 2 min while whisking (or incorporate softened gelatin).
- Strain and pour into molds rinsed with cold water.
- Let set in the refrigerator for at least 4 h.
- Unmold carefully onto a cold plate just before serving.
How it was made : Before refrigeration, blancmange was set with 'fish glue' or starch, remaining a dessert for special occasions. Coconut, omnipresent in Creole gardens, was grated and pressed by hand to extract the milk, a daily gesture of Antillean kitchens.
The contemporary twist : Unmold onto a passion fruit coulis and sprinkle with toasted coconut flakes.
Aimé Césaire · Charactorium
