In addition to parmesan and Jefferson’s vanilla,
I also made strawberry ice cream for the Culinary
Historians of New York’s recent program. I found
the perfect historic receipt in Mrs. Lettice Bryan’s
The Kentucky Housewife (1839).
However, it was a bit more involved than I wanted.
Plus, it was yet another custard-based concoction.
My plan was to find one using just fruit, sugar, and
cream. Which, incidentally, I read (somewhere) is
actual REAL ice cream, and that those custards are
for when good cream can’t be had. In any event,
in my ideal strawberry receipt there’d be no eggs,
no custard, and no cooking. And then I read
the final sentence…
STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM.
Pick the leaves and stems from
a quart of ripe English strawberries,
put them in a bowl, and sprinkle
on them a pound of powdered
white sugar. Stir the beaten yolks
of six eggs into a quart of sweet
milk, simmer them gently till thick,
then put it in a bowl, and set it
by to cool. Mash the berries fine,
press them through a sieve, and
when the custard is cold, stir them
well together, and freeze it over
twice as directed. Strawberry
cream may be made as directed
for raspberry cream, and raspberry
cream may be made by this receipt.
[emphasis mine]
Aha! So I can use Bryan’s receipt for raspberry cream
to make my strawberry ice cream! Which fortunately,
is on the same page, right above…
RASPBERRY ICE CREAM.
Pick the leaves and stems from a quart
of ripe English raspberries, mash them
to a pulp, press it through a sieve, and
mix it well with a pound of powdered
white sugar; then stir into it a quart
of sweet cream, and freeze it twice
as directed.
And so, I made strawberry ice cream using Bryan’s
receipt for raspberry. HUZZAH!
