TWD: RASPBERRY BLANC-MANGER

I have to say that when I read the ingredient list - I just about skipped this one. There are two words that were a total turn-off.... "unflavored gelatin".   Being a self-professed carnivore it has nothing to do with vegetarian concerns.   It's all about gelatin - I can see nothing worthwhile about this substance (other than homemade marshmallows and a certain strawberry pie)!  I think it's because of the Christmas dinner side-dish nightmare of my youth... shrimp aspic.

Being a good sport and intent to get "out of the box" (hmmmm - I think that is why I decided to participate in TWD) - I set out on this project.   

• Fresh peaches ripening on the counter sounded like a good idea.
  
• Skinning the almonds seemed like way to much work (as described in various comments on TWD) so I used the food processor and ground up almonds with the skin.... I am all about the "artisan" look!
• The Perfect Party Cake flavored with almond extract instead of lemon seemed like a good way to play around with this recipe.   The extra batter was baked off in 6" pans and frozen for later use.

• A 4.5" springform pan seemed like the perfect size
• The note "70 gr" is amount of cake batter I used on this version - it resulted in a 5/8" layer.    In the fridge - there is a "100 gr" version with a 1" cake layer. 
• There was enough mixture to also make a full 4.5" pan (no cake) and three individual ramekins.

• I thought about adding a layer of blueberry jam before topping the cake with blanc-manger but choose not to "invest" any more.  I was still trying to get past the image of shrimp aspic that was floating around in my mind (regardless of how tasty the samples were up to this point).

• A few peaches into the FP along with some sugar, lemon juice and a little more sugar for a peach coulis.
• Version #2 (the one with 1" cake layer) will have a blueberry glaze on the top.
• The finishing touches on the non-cake versions are still up in the air..........

I read somewhere that blanc-manger originated in the Middle Ages and was often fixed with chicken, milk, rice and various other seasonings.   They said it was good for the sick.   All this seems to take it back way too close to my shrimp aspic nightmares!