Woman’s Home Companion Cook Book – Part 13

It has been far too long since I shared a chapter of our every love Woman’s Home Companion Cook Book, so with no further ado:-

The chapter on Frozen Desserts reads:

“Take  one sweltering summer day.  Add a lime sherbet, frosting its glass, or a fruit  cup topped with a spoonful of orange ice, or a snowy peak of ice cream stained rose-pink with the juice of freshly crushed strawberries.  Serve by spoonfuls, and say, “Ah!”

In Neros day the Romans knew that snow from Alpine passes, flavored with fruit juice, made life more pleasant in warm weather.  Frozen milk ices came to Europe from the East, and  a French chef made “cream ice”, the favorite dessert of Charles I.  From England the idea crossed to pre-Revolutionary America, where the name was reversed.  Half a century later Dolly Madison put ice cream on the White House menu.

Frozen desserts are still the approved end for formal dinners, but are no longer a luxury reserved for such special occasions.  the whole range from easily mad inexpensive water ices and sherbets to rich mousses and parfaits can now be made at home, and they are the one dessert of which most of us never tire.

When you plan the meals, don’t say”I’ll take vanilla”,; try the adventure of new flavors and new combinations.  Use fresh fruits in season, or frozen fruits out of season.  Experiment with left over fruit juices in non fattening ices and sherbets.  Try new blends in flavoring, and new toppings for the familiar flavors.

Frozen desserts fall into three classes: (1) ice creams, (2) ices and sherbets, (3) mousses and parfaits.

Ice Creams:  A mixture based upon either cream or custard beaten or churned during freezing is called an ice cream.  PLAIN OR PHILADELPHIA ICE CREAM is an uncooked mixture of cream, sugar and flavoring, often with gelatine or some other binder added, but rarely with eggs.  FRENCH OR NEAPOLITAN ICE CREAM contains eggs and is virtually a frozen custard.  All ice creams are variations of these two basic types.

Water Ices and Sherbets:  A mixture of fruit juices and sugar with various additions of spices, ground fruits, etc., is called an ice.  A sherbet is a water ice to which milk, beaten egg white or gelatine is added to change the texture and flavor.

Mousses and Parfaits:  An exceptionally heavy cream – usually whipped – is the basis of a PARFAIT, MOUSSE GLACÉ,  BOMB OR FROZEN PUDDING.  Eggs may or may not be added.  The mixture is frozen without beating.”

So there you have it – frozen desserts in a nutshell.  There are 22 pages with up to 8 recipes per page for these cold puds.  There is even a page dedicated to directions for freezing ice cream in a dasher freezer – not quite sure what that is all about.