TWD: Raspberry Blanc Manger (THE BLESSING!)

You may be asking yourself, "What is a Blanc Manger".  Well, dear readers, Dorie describes a Blanc Manger (pronounced blah-mahn-jay) as panna cotta's kissing cousin.

Let me give you a little history about me and Panna Cotta, shall we?  We used to never get along.  When presented with the option for panna cotta as a dessert when I was younger, I always thought back to the scene in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation where the family is gathering for Christmas Dinner, and Ellen's crazy Aunt and Uncle show up with a green jello mold with cat food as garnish and the camera pans the table as the family tries to make their way through dinner, crunching an all.

You know the Aunt and Uncle I'm talking about?  Who gave us such hilarious lines like:

Is Rusty still in the Navy?

and

Clark: Since this is Aunt Bethany's 80th Christmas, I think she should say grace.

Aunt Bethany: What dear?

Nora: Grace!

Aunt Bethany: Grace? Grace died 30 years ago.

Uncle Lewis:  THE BLESSING!

Aunt Bethany: Oh.  I pledge allegiance, to the flag...

Pure genius. It is not Christmas without that movie, in my opinion.

Now, you are probably wondering why I compare panna cotta to this dessert.  Unfortunately, I do not have an answer for that.  No one can argue with the logic of a once picky eater.

Now, however, I love panna cotta.  The creamy, smooth refreshing texture is something I look forward to in a dessert.  And its "kissing cousin", the blanc manger, did not let me down.  The whole texture of the ground up almonds thing did not help my case for remembering the green jello mold with cat food as garnish, however, this was an absolutely delicious dessert that was easy to make.  A little milk, a little cream, some ground up almonds, some gelatin, and voila! A very impressive dessert.  I made two versions:  a blueberry version (with the fruit on the inside) and a fig version with fig jam (no fruit on the inside) that was atop a graham cracker sable from Johnny Iuzzini's dessert book, Dessert Fourplay (get this book for some fantastic professional dessert ideas).  I liked it better without the fruit on the inside, as I didn't want anything getting in the way of that delicious blanc manger.

On another note, today is Jack's birthday!  So we'll be celebrating by polishing this off and then tonight, I'm making him duck confit with date stuffed gnocchi (which also will be my Top Chef post for tomorrow). Needless to say, I hope I don't mess it up!  But I hope it will be the perfect dinner for my little Harry Potter look-a-like.  

Seriously, the older Harry Potter gets (not Daniel Radcliff, but Harry Potter), the more he looks like Jack.  I couldn't get over it while watching the movie this time around.

Check out Susan of Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy for the recipe and check out TWD to see more great blanc mangers!

Comments

[Karine]

I love the presentation of your blanc manger and it looks delicious!

[Cakelaw]

Just lovely Teanna. I saw the new Harry Potter too - LOL at Jack looking like Harry.

[Maria]

Oh how I love that movie! You made me laugh! Great dessert and happy birthday to Jack!

[cheffresco]

Oh man, that does look amazing! I just had my first figs last week - yum!

[Margaret]

YUP!! Watch it every Christmas Eve. Wouldn't be the same without it. It's g-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-d, Clark!!

Cute blanc-manger. I like the ones with figs.

[Tracey]

Happy Birthday to Jack! Hope you guys enjoy your dinner.

Both of your variations on the blanc-manger look beautiful! I've never had panna cotta but I thought the blanc-manger was good. I really need to expand my horizons apparently.

[Caitlin]

Sorry I missed it, but wish Jack a belated happy birthday! Your fig version would be my favorite as well :)

[Tangled Noodle]

Happy belated birthday to Jack! Hope your celebration was great fun!

I saw Susan's blanc manger and now this; I would love to try this out - definitely to eat and maybe to make myself. 8-) We'll see if I can rustle up the courage to test my skills!

[Michele]

Your blanc-manger looks so perfect--love the figs!

[ingrid]

teanna we are RIGHT THERE girl! I love National Lampoon's Crhistmas Vacation. I watch it atleast twice during the Christmas season laughing hysterically dispite the strange looks from my family.

Both of your blah mahn jhay(s) look good.

Happy Birthday, Jack!
~ingrid

[Wendy]

I love the fig version! I love fresh figs. YUM.

[Elizabeth - Cake or Death?]

So beautiful! I LOVE fresh figs and I imagine they'd be fabulous in this dessert. Glad you loved it!

[food librarian]

Oh! This looks soooooo good. I love the fig with graham cracker. Genius.

And that movie is just too funny! Thanks for making me laugh this morning.

[Ellen]

What did you use to mold the blanc manger?!?
Thank you!
:)
Ellen

[Mike]

You take the Blanc Manger! Love the toppings - so creative! I, too, loved this, but thought it might taste like that refrigerated, whipped whipped gelatin stuff from Reeser's at the grocery store. Was I wrong - Happy Birthday (belated) to Jack! Beautiful T!

[pigpigscorner]

Gorgeous presentation!

[lisaiscooking]

It looks great with the figs, but the blueberry sauce looks incredible too!

[Kevin]

Those look nice and creamy and good! I really like the fig version!

[ALEXIS23Huber]

I took 1 st loans when I was very young and it supported my relatives a lot. But, I require the consolidation loans again.

[nfl jerseys]

These look gorgeous. I really like the fig one. So pretty. Your posts crack me up.