blancmange

American  

[bluh-mahnj, -mahnzh] / bləˈmɑndʒ, -ˈmɑ̃ʒ /

noun

1. a sweet pudding prepared with almond milk and gelatin and flavored with rum or kirsch.

2. a sweet, white pudding made with milk and cornstarch and flavored with vanilla.

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blancmange British  

/ bləˈmɒnʒ /

noun

1. a jelly-like dessert, stiffened usually with cornflour and set in a mould

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Etymology

Origin of blancmange

1350–1400; apocopated variant of Middle English blancmanger < Middle French: literally, white eating. See blank, manger

Explanation

Blancmange is a dessert made of milk, sugar, and sometimes almonds. It’s usually served cold in a mold. It’s kind of like vanilla pudding. For some reason, it’s often pink. This French term means "white food," and that's a very good description of blancmange. This dessert is like a pudding made from milk and cornstarch, and although it's sometimes pink, it's usually white and somewhat bland. However, there are various ways of livening it up. Sometimes spices or even shredded chicken is added. Occasionally, this word has been a synonym for nonsense, as in, "That's a load of blancmange!"

Example Sentences

Blancmange — which means ‘‘white food’’ — referred to a family of recipes in which pale mixtures were casseroled together into a pap, often with rice and almond milk.

From New York Times • Oct. 29, 2015

Bhosle formed the group West India Company with Stephen Luscombe from Blancmange, Vince Clark and percussionist Pandit Dinesh, and the record was an unexpected success.

From The Guardian • Mar. 14, 2011

Oatmeal Blancmange No. 2.—Take a pint of well-cooked oatmeal, add to it a pint of milk, part cream if obtainable.

From Science in the Kitchen. by Kellogg, Mrs. E. E.

Blancmange and red jelly, or blancmange and raspberry cream, moulded in the above manner, look very well.

From The Book of Household Management by Beeton, Mrs. (Isabella Mary)

My dear Wrightabout, will you take that charming Lady Blancmange down to supper?

From Roundabout Papers by Thackeray, William Makepeace