American History of Ice Cream
From the American Heritage Cookbook
By the Editors of AMERICAN HERITAGE,
The Magazine of History
Recipes Editor – HELEN MC CULLY
Associate Recipes Editor – ELEANOR NOTDERER
Historical Food Consultant – HELEN DUPREY BULLOCK
“What is perhaps the first written comment on ice Cream in America comes from a letter written in 1744 by William Black, a guest of Thomas Bladen, proprietary governor of Maryland. Black wrote, “you saw a plain proof of the Great Plenty of the Country, a Great Variety of Dishes, all served up in the most Elegant way, after which came a Dessert no less Curious; Among the Rarities . . . . was some fine Ice Cream which, with the Strawberries and Milk, eat most Deliciously.
“Ice cream is believed to be a Chinese invention, Originating as “water Ices” some 3,000 years ago, it was brought to the West by Marco Polo. Its lineage and literature are imposing. In America, George Washington made it: Mrs. Alexander Hamilton Served it: Dolley Madison popularized it. Ice cream was often served at elaborate dinners as the pie’ce de r’esistance; at Montpelier, and strawberries from Mrs. Madison’s garden topped the dish.
“By the early 1990’s, millions of Americans ate ice cream in cones, sodas, sundaes, and out of bucket freezers. The old pot freezer (in which the ingredients were beaten by hand and then shaken up and down in a pan of ice and salt until frozen) disappeared in 1846 when Nancy Johnson invented the hand-cranked portable ice cream freezer. In 1851, Jacob Fussell, a milk dealer in Baltimore, set up the first large wholesale ice cream business. In 1874, according to legend, the ice cream soda was introduced at the semi centennial of the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia; the ice cream cone reputedly was originated at the St. Louis fair in 1904. The sundae (originally an ice cream soda without soda) came into being to skirt a law prohibiting the sale of stimulating beverages on Sunday.”
VANILLA ICE CREAM
¾ cup light cream
¼ cup sugar
Dash of salt
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup heavy cream
Refrigerator method: Scald the light cream, remove from heat, and stir in sugar and salt. Beat egg yolks lightly, and then beat in a little hot cream. Pour back into cream and cook over a low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard will coat a wooden spoon (cooking the custard in the top of a double boiler is less tricky). Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, and cool. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, and cool. When cool, fold in stiffly beaten heavy cream and pour into an ice cube tray. Set temperature control at coldest point and freeze until firm. Serves 4.
Freezer method: Double, triple, or even quadruple the ingredients (depending on the size of your freezer). Prepare custard as above, then cool. Stir in vanilla and unbeaten heavy cream. Follow usual freezing technique.
VARIATION I: To make strawberry ice cream, omit vanilla. Instead add 1 cup crushed fresh strawberries or 1 package frozen strawberries, thawed, drained and crushed. Fold into cream before mixing with custard. Any fresh fruit may be substituted for the strawberries.
VARIATION II: To make chocolate ice cream, melt I square (1 ounce) unsweetened chocolate in the light cream when you make the custard.”
