Raspberry Blanc-Manger, or, Have We Learned NOTHING from Monty Python?

I hope you all realize that this week’s TWD recipe, blanc-manger, is a loaded gun just waiting to go off. Blanc-manger? BLANC-MANGER?! Do you not understand how dangerous this is? Has no one seen the Monty Python “Science Fiction” sketch, in which it is revealed that extraterrestrial blancmange [sic] puddings have come to earth to eat humans, especially professional tennis players, and that their deviously murderous plan involves turning all of humanity into Scotsmen and then winning at Wimbledon, since everyone knows the Scots are notoriously bad at tennis?!? WON’T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN?

BEHOLD the fearsome visage of the alien blancmange:


They may look fluffy white and innocent, but they wield a mean tennis racket and are expert players:

Fortunately, just when it seemed the blancmange was going to win Wimbledon--and by extension, doom the human race--some spectators were armed with spoons and knew how to fight off the alien intruders:

And humanity was saved once more…for now.
[To watch the foolishness in its entirety, the Monty Python clip is here. The killer blancmange can be seen just after minute three.]

Ahem. And now for something completely different! A mild-mannered, non-homicidal blanc-manger that wouldn’t know how to play tennis to save its life. Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if this blanc-manger WAS an alien lifeform, it was so out-of-this-world delicious. [Thank you, thank you, I’ll be here all week!]
Seriously. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this dessert much at all. First of all, my only exposure to blanc-manger was in the form of British sketch comedy (see above). Secondly, the description didn’t wow me: a dessert that mostly consisted of gelatin, milk, and whipped cream? Ewww. I am soooo not a fan of desserts with lots of heavy cream. I basically only made it so I could talk about Monty Python on the blog.

Well, the joke’s on me, because I loved, loved, LOVED this puppy. It might be the single biggest pleasant surprise to come from my TWD experience so far. I used fresh raspberries in the blanc-manger, and lots of fresh berries and berry coulis on top. I used really fresh finely ground almonds, and set it all on a base of vanilla sponge cake. The combination of the fresh berries, the lighter-than-air mousse texture with a hint of flavor and substance from the almonds, and the little bit of texture from the cake…fabulous! It’s indecent how much I’ve already eaten, standing over the kitchen sink.

So MAJOR ups to Susan of Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy, for introducing me to such an awesome dessert! Did everyone else love it as much as I did?