Part 16

Ice-Creams and Ices.--There are so many ways of making ice-cream, that all one can do is to indicate the one or two best, and certainly the very best is the simplest, and there is no dessert so easy to prepare in hot weather as this, since there is no work over the fire. The only trouble is breaking the ice and turning the machine for some twenty minutes, which can be done by a child.

Simplest Fruit Ice-Cream.--Mash two pounds of strawberries or raspberries, put to them half a pound of powdered sugar, and let them remain in a cold place two or three hours, so that the juice may run; then, strain the juice to a quart of thick sweet cream and another half pound of sugar, with the juice of half a lemon; stir, and pour cream and fruit juice into the freezer, which must be packed with ice and rock-salt in about equal quantities, the ice being broken quite small. Let the cream remain standing in the freezer a few minutes before you begin to turn; then freeze, letting off the water, and filling anew with ice and salt if necessary. Stir the cream down as it forms, and keep on turning five or ten minutes after it is actually necessary. This extra working insures that extreme smoothness characteristic of Italian and French ice-cream. If you are not expert in freezing, be satisfied not to pack your cream in a mould for the first few times. Take out the paddle of the freezer, press the ice compactly down in the freezer, cover, and see that the ice and salt are sufficient and free from water. In two hours you can turn the ice out of the freezer in a round column or loaf that will be quite as sightly as the oblong square one frequently gets from the caterer. Many people think that simply freezing the pure cream produces the loose, frothy cream found at inferior confectioners’, but this is not the case; pure cream frozen results in a firm smooth mass which cuts like butter.

I have given the formula for raspberry and strawberry cream only, but any fruit juice may be substituted, varying the quantity of sugar as required.

When it is desirable to freeze the fruit in the cream instead of the juice, it must not be added until the cream is frozen. Stir in raspberries, strawberries, chopped pineapple, banana, or peaches just before the ice is ready to pack down; otherwise the fruit, being full of water, will freeze into hard knots.

Tutti-frutti Ice-Cream being made from chopped candied fruit, this precaution is not necessary; the fruit may be added at any time during the freezing, or stirred in last, as you please.

I have given the simplest and best method of making ice-cream, yet the way most in use is to add custard; and French cooks always use “méringue paste,” claiming that it insures a smoothness and lightness nothing else can give.

Custard for Ice-Cream.--This is made as any other custard, except that double the amount of sugar is allowed for everything that is to be frozen. It may be made of from three to six eggs to a pint of milk, as you prefer. This must be ice cold before you put it in the freezer.

Ice-Cream with Eggs.--One pint of milk, three eggs, leaving out one white, half a pound of sugar (if acid fruit is to be added, it may require more for some tastes). Make a custard of these materials, and half freeze it; then add a pint of cream whipped solid. Stir in well and finish freezing, turning the handle some few minutes after it gets pretty stiff, if there is a strong enough hand near to do it.

In making varieties of ice-cream you have only to consider the fitness of the articles you use; for instance, any sort of fruit may be added, with the exception of lemons. Fleshy fruits, such as pineapple, peaches, pears, etc., are usually mixed with the cream uncooked in this country; abroad this is only done with soft fruits, such as raspberries, blackberries, oranges, and such as will mash through a colander. Others are very slightly stewed in rich syrup (as nearly their own juice as possible), then pulped and mixed through when the cream is nearly frozen.

In winter, fruit jams, and especially jellies, are very pleasant in ice-cream; they always require a little lemon juice to restore some of the natural sharpness of fresh fruit. A tumbler of red currant jelly turned into a pint of ice-cream is delicious, and gives a pretty, faint pink tint. The method is just the same whether for custard and cream or cream alone.

The méringue paste alluded to as used by foreign confectioners is made by beating the white of an egg with a tablespoonful of powdered sugar until stiff.

Grilled Almond Ice-Cream.--Make a quart of ice-cream; grill some almonds in the following way: Blanch four ounces of almonds, dry them in a hot spot till they are brittle; then put in a thick saucepan or sauté pan four ounces of sugar and a gill of water; let them boil five minutes; throw in the almonds; stir them till part of the sugar adheres and they begin to turn yellow. Take them up, chop them, and when quite cold stir them into the ice-cream, which should be flavored with vanilla.

XXVIII.

ICE-CREAMS AND WATER-ICES.

To those very fond of tea, ice-cream made with it is very acceptable, and is very much used at English garden parties.

Tea Ice-Cream.--To one pound of granulated sugar put a pint of strong green tea, a pint and a half of cream, and two quarts of rich milk, and a very little cinnamon water. Let the whole simmer one minute, not stirring, but keeping the mixture in motion by gently swinging the saucepan. Freeze as usual. This recipe may be used for coffee and chocolate; it will make a large quantity, and for a medium-sized family one quarter will suffice.

Chinese Ice.--Beat the yolks of fifteen eggs with three quarters of a pound of powdered sugar; pound four ounces of pistachio-nuts (blanched) with the white of an egg; put to it three gills of water; stir it over the fire in a double boiler till it is as thick as cream; take great care that it does not boil. Color it green, or part green and part yellow; flavor as you please; cut up a couple of candied Chinese oranges small and a little preserved ginger, and freeze.

Water-Ices.--These are exceedingly simple, and no more elegant form of refreshment can be offered than a plate of well-frozen or a tumbler of half-frozen water-ice. It is acceptable when ice-cream would be too heavy, and can be offered at the simplest country afternoon tea, or during a call, without the seeming ostentation of ice-cream.

Ginger Water-Ice (to serve as a beverage if preferred).--Take six ounces of preserved ginger, free from fibre; pound it; make two quarts of lemonade by paring eight or ten lemons so thinly that the knife-blade shows through the yellow; put the peel of three in a pitcher with a pound and a quarter of sugar; pour two quarts of boiling water on them, and cover; squeeze and strain the juice from the lemons, add to the water, and when cold stir in the pounded ginger, with the méringue paste made with the whites of four eggs. Freeze it. If for drinking, only half freeze, work only enough to make it like half-melting snow, and use only sugar enough to make a refreshing drink. Italians call this granito, and it is a form of ice not often met with in this country.

Pineapple Water-Ice.--This can be readily made of canned pineapple when the fresh fruit is out of season. Peel a pineapple; grate it into a mortar; then pound it well with six ounces of sugar; let it stand covered for an hour; add the juice of five oranges, and a pint and a half of syrup boiled to the little thread, or à lissé. (This syrup is much used in making water-ices, punches, etc. It is sugar and water boiled till it forms a little thread between thumb and finger.) Mix well and freeze. If canned fruit is used, you need less sugar, and substitute lemon for half the orange juice.

Almond Water-Ice.--Take one pound of almond paste, a pint and a half of water, and three quarters of a pound of sugar; grate the paste; then stir till quite dissolved. Flavor with vanilla or raspberry; stir in the whites of two eggs and some candied fruits cut up small. Freeze as usual.

Cinnamon Water-Ice.--This is a German ice, and very much liked by those who are fond of the flavor. Pound an ounce of the finest quality of cinnamon in the stick, put it into a pint and a half of boiling water, and cover it well; when it is cold add a quart of syrup (the little thread) and the well-beaten whites of two eggs, and freeze it.

Pistachio Water-Ice.--Blanch and pound a pound of pistachio-nuts, using the white of an egg to moisten; mix with a quart of syrup à lissé. Heighten the color, if too pale, with spinach coloring, and flavor to taste. (Pistachio-nuts have no flavor of their own, astonishing as the fact may seem to those who have heard frequently of pistachio flavor.) Freeze as usual.

Apricot Water-Ice.--There is no more delicious water-ice than this if fine-flavored apricots are used. The canned ones are excellent for the purpose. Pulp two pounds of apricots through a sieve or jelly press; grate or pound very fine five or six bitter almonds; mix with the pulp the juice of the apricots (from the can), and a pint and a half of syrup, and the beaten whites of three eggs made into a paste with three tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar; stir all well, and freeze. This ice ought to be the color of apricots; if too pale, add a very little saffron coloring.

Currant Water-Ice.--A pint of currant juice, a pint of syrup, and the whites of three eggs made into méringue paste. Freeze as usual. Any of these water-ices can be half frozen as graniti, and served in glasses as granito, the only exceptions being the almond and pistachio water-ices.

Graniti are also made of various kinds of light punches by adding to a quart of the usual punch recipe a quart of sweetened water. Any summer beverage made from fruit juice can be turned into a granito, by half freezing, in either of the following ways:

To Freeze Graniti.--Mix the beverage you intend to freeze, for instance, we will say, a pint of very strong, clear, bright coffee and half a pint of syrup à lissé. Put them into the freezer and turn; as it becomes frozen up the sides, scrape it down with a spoon, and remember, as soon as it resembles snowy water (not white, of course) it is frozen enough. It must be just liquid enough to pour out.

There is a second way of freezing graniti by which they can be put on the table in the vessel in which they were frozen. Place the mixture in wide-mouthed water-bottles, twirl them round in ice and salt, and, as the contents become frozen on the inside of the bottle, scrape down with a narrow wooden stick or spatula. When frozen in perfection the bottle should seem half filled with tiny crystals.