FoodNetArchive

Vegetarian Cook Book

1904

Page 82

Presented as published in 1904. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
These are mostly made from water, sugar, and the juice of fruit. When fresh fruit is not obtainable, juices or pulp wh^ch have been canned may be substituted. Fruit jellies may be dissolved in hot water and then frozen. As fruits vary in sweetness, it is advisable to test the mix- tures before all the sugar or sirup called for in the recipe is added. A mixture which seems sweet enough before freezing, will be found to be lacking in sweetness after freezing. If a rich fruit ice or sherbet is desired, the pure fruit juice may be used without the addition of any water. Sherbets are practically the same as fruit ice, only that gelatine, egg whites, or corn-starch have been added to give more body to the preparation. The texture of fruit ice is often more or less granular and icy, more like wet snow. The sherbets are often so much like the cream ices, that it is difficult to believe that there is no cream in them. If the sugar is boiled with the water, a finer grained ice will be the result. There are many freezers on the market, but the one having a double motion is the most satisfactory. To pre- pare the ice, one should provide one 's self with a grain sack and something with which to break the ice. A 2 x 4 about two and one half feet long, with one end prepared for a handle, is desirable. Or an iron pipe of the same length may be used. Place the ice in a sack, and hold the open end in the left hand while you strike with the bludg- eon in the right, occasionally turning the sack. When (331) 332 VEGETARIAN COOK BOOK sufficiently beaten, empty the ice into a tight box, pick out the pieces too large for use, and return them to the sack. Better results mil be obtained from finely crushed ice; if the pieces are too large, they are liable to dent the freezer. Mix the coarse salt with the crushed ice in the box, and from it pack the freezer. Authorities differ in refer- ence to the proportion of ice and salt to be used. Some say one of salt to three of ice ; others one of the former to seven of the latter. Too much salt causes the finished product to be coarse-grained. It is possible to freeze a batch of fruit ice with ice and salt left from a former freezing, although it may have become somewhat liquefied ; so do not think it necessary to refill the freezer because some water is seen with the ice and salt. Freezers which are properly constructed have an outlet for water just below the level of the top of the freezing can, and not in the bottom as some might suppose. Fine salt will accomplish the desired end, but the coarse is cheaper and better. Care should be exercised to keep the bearings, gear, and sockets of the freezer frequently oiled. If only a small batch of ice is to be frozen, the freezer need not be packed its full depth. When the mixture is frozen, remove the paddle, scrape off the ice, cover the can, place a cork in the hole in the cover, and throw over all the wet sack in which the ice was broken. Keep in a cool place until time to serve. To produce a soft, creamy texture, the freezer should be turned continually and rapidly until the mixture is hard. Always turn the freezer to the right. If turned to the lOES AND SHEEBETS 3&3