ELABORATION OF COMMERCIAL ICE CREAM

No other food is such a boon to the busy, hospitable homemaker as the high quality of ice cream that is available at almost any corner store or drug store. It is a delicious nourishing food to serve everyone from baby to grandma by dishing it up, as is for frequent dessert use. And it can be quickly converted into a dozen different roles with the help of some specially prepared sauces, flavorsome preserves or jam, nuts, fruit juices or carbonated beverages.

The ice cream can be safely stored in the freezing compartment of a mechanical freezer or in a home food freezer ready to use for a quick dessert or an afternoon or evening snack. And the children will soon give mother all the help she needs to prepare the most elaborate sundaes and parfaits, and refreshing coolers, sodas and shakes. These concoctions are so popular and so wholesome.

SUNDAE SAUCES

APRICOT SAUCE
(For ice cream sundaes or puddings)
¼ lb. dried apricots (about 1 cup)
2 cups water
Pinch of slat
¼ cup sugar
Soak apricots in the water 3 to 4 hours. Cook covered, in same water (15 to 20 minutes), boiling gently until apricots are tender.
Purée and save all juice. Add salt and sugar to purée and juice and stir until dissolved. A few drops of almond may be added if desired. Serve with chocolate ice cream. Makes 1½ cups.

CARMEL SAUCE No. 1
(For ice cream sundaes or puddings)

1 cup sugar
1½ cup cream
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla

Heat an iron skillet until quit hot, sprinkle a small amount of sugar into the skillet. As it liquefies, push it to the side with a wooden spoon; repeat process with remaining sugar until all is melted to a rich amber rich amber color and keep the heat low to prevent caramel from acquiring a scorched taste. Add the cream slowly (the sugar will harden) and hold at simmering temperature, continually stirring until all the caramel dissolves and sauce is of a smooth, thick consistency (from 8 to 10 minutes). Add salt and vanilla and blend well. Cool and store. If too thick, thin with cream to desired consistency. Serve over vanilla ice cream. Makes 1 ½ cups

CARMEL SAUCE No. 2

(For ice cream sundaes or puddings)
1 cup sugar caramelized
1½ cup water
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla

Caramelize the sugar as described in Carmel Sauce No. 1 above. When sugar is a rich amber color, add the water slowly (the sugar will harden), and gently simmer, stirring constantly until all the sugar is dissolved. Simmer slowly until syrup is of desired consistency, from 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in salt and vanilla. Serve over New York or vanilla ice cream Make about ¾ cup.

CHOCOLATE MARSHALLOW SUNDAE

Pour over each large serving of vanilla or New York ice cream 2 teaspoons marshmallow crème, and then add 2 teaspoons chocolate syrup.

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER SAUCE
(For ice cream sundaes)

½ cup water
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 square (1 oz.) unsweetened chocolate
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons peanut butter

Combine water, sugar, corn syrup, salt and chocolate cut into bits. Place over moderate heat and boil slowly for 3 minutes. Stir to blend the chocolate evenly and thoroughly. Remove the heat, add vanilla and peanut butter and stir to blend. Serve hot or cold over vanilla ice cream. Makes 1 cup.

CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT SAUCE
(For ice cream sundaes or puddings)

1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup cream
2 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 square (1 oz.) unsweetened chocolate
1/3 cup crushed peppermint candy

Combine milk, cream, and yolks in top of double boiler. Beat with rotary beater until well blended. Add sugar, salt and chocolate that has been grated or cut in pieces. Place over boiling water and cook until chocolate is melted and the mixture is thickened (about 7 minutes). Add candy and stir well. Let cool. If the crunchy consistency of candy is desired, add candy to cold sauce just before serving. Serve over vanilla ice cream. Makes ¾ cup.

CRISPY NUT TOPPING
(For ice cream sundaes)

2 teaspoons butter
½ cup chopped pecans
½ cup crushed crisp cereal
¼ cup brown sugar, firmly packed

Maple syrup

Melt butter in skillet, add the nuts and brown lightly, tossing with a fork to keep them from scorching. Remove from heat; add the cereal and sugar and mix. Serve as topping for ice cream over which a serving of maple syrup, or any desired sauce has first been poured. Serve over vanilla ice cream. Make 1 cup.

CHOCOLATE BAVARIAN

1 tablespoon plain gelatin 1 ½ cups whipping cream or
¾ cup cold water evaporated milk
1 square (1oz.) unsweetened- ½ cup sugar
chocolate ½ teaspoon vanilla

Soften gelatin in ¼ cup of cold water. Melt chocolate over boiling water; add ½ cup of water; add ½ cup of cream or evaporated milk, sugar, and remaining ½ cup water, and cook about 5 minutes, stirring until smooth. Add softened gelatin, stirring until dissolved. Add vanilla and cool until mixture is thick and syrupy. Have rest of cream or evaporated milk thoroughly chilled and whip with rotary beater in chilled bowl until stiff. Whip chocolate moisture until smooth and fold in the whipped cream or evaporated milk lightly but thoroughly. Turn into mold or individual sherbets which have been rinsed with cold water and chill in refrigerator until set. 5 servings.

Note: Charlotte is a corruption of the Old English word charlyt meaning a “dish of custard.” There is a lot of doubt surrounding the origins of the name “charlotte.” Meat dishes that were known as charlets were popular in the 15th century.

Following information is from the Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, by John F. Mariani, 1999
“Charlotte russe. A French dessert (supposedly created by Marie-Antonin Careme) made in mold with ladyfingers and Bavarian cream. . . While this confection is known and made in the United States, a simple version consisting of a square of sponge cake topped with whipped cream (sometimes with chocolate sprinkles) and a maraschino cherry was also called a “charlotte russe”. . . This was a standard item in eastern cities, particularly among urban Jewish Americans (some of whom pronounce the item “charely roose” or “charlotte roosh”), who made it at home or bought it at a pastry shop, where it was set on a frilled cardboard holder whose center would be pushed up as to reveal more cake as the whipped cream was consumed.”

18th Century – It is said to have been invented by the French Chef Marie Antoine Careme (1784-1833), who named it in honor of his Russian employer, Czar Alexander I. The word “russe” means Russian in French.
Some historians say that the word Charlotte refers to the Czar Alexander’s sister-in-law, Queen Charlotte, Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1744-1818), who was the wife of George III, king of Great Britain and Scotland.

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CHARLOTTE RUSSE

One recipe Jelly Roll, to follow(*) 1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon plain gelatin 3 eggs, separated
1/4 cup cold water 1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups milk 1 cup whipping cream
½ cup sugar

Bake sponge cake in a 7 X 11 inch pan. Cut the cooled cake into ½ inch slices and line bottom and sides of an 8 ½ inch spring form pan. Soften gelatin in cold water for 5 minutes. Scald milk in the top of a double boiler, add sugar, salt and softened gelatin and stir until sugar and gelatin dissolve. Stir a small amount of the hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks. Return to double boiler and cook, stirring constantly until mixture coats a spoon, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. Add vanilla, then fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites and the stiffly whipped cream. Turn this mixture into the cake lined mold, cover and set in the refrigerator 5 to 6 hours or overnight until mixture is congealed. Serve with additional sweetened whipped cream and a garnish of maraschino cherries if desired. 10 to 12 servings.

JELLY ROLL
¾ cup cake flour 4 eggs, separated
* ¾ teaspoon baking powder ¾ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons water ½ cup tart red jelly

* Sulfate-phosphate (double-action) type. Use 1 teaspoon tartrate or phosphate type.

Sift flour, then measure and resift 3 times with baking powder and salt. Add water to egg yolks and place bowl over hot water. Beat until light with a rotary beater. Add ½ of the sugar gradually and continue to beat until thick. Remove bowl from hot water, add vanilla and sift in flour mixture gradually, folding in with a wire whip. Beat the egg whites with a clean rotary beater until almost stiff. Add remaining sugar gradually, and bet until mixture stands in shiny peaks. Fold whites lightly but thoroughly into batter, again using the wire whip. Spread batter in a shallow jelly roll pan about 15 ½ x 10 ½ X 5/8 inches with greased, thin, plain paper. Bake on center rack in a hot oven (400 F) for 7 or 8 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly pressed with the fingers. Loosen edges and turn out onto a towel or a sheet of waxed paper sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar. Immediately remove waxed paper from bottom of cake and cut off crusty edges. Starting with the short side, roll up in the towel or waxed paper and let cool on cake rack.

**Cut in ½ inch slices for use in Charlotte Russe

CARMEL SPONGE

3/4 cup sugar
½ cup boiling water
1 tablespoon gelatin (1 envelope)
¼ cup cold water
2 eggs, separated
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Whipped cream

Put ½ cup of the sugar into a heavy metal saucepan or skillet, and stir constantly over direct heat until melted to an amber-colored liquid. Slowly add the boiling water and simmer until caramel is entirely dissolved, stirring occasionally. Cool for about 10 minutes. Soften gelatin in cold water for 5 minutes. Beat egg yolks, add salt and milk, and slowly stir in the caramel syrup. Return to saucepan and cook over low heat, and stir in the gelatin; add vanilla and chill. When mixture has become thick and syrupy, beat until fluffy and add to the egg whites, folding lightly but thoroughly until well mixed. Pour into mold, bowl or sherbet glasses and chill until firm. Serve with whipped or plain cream. 5 servings.

STEWED RHUBARB

2 lb. rhubarb
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water

Cut off leaves of rhubarb and discard. Wash stalks thoroughly. Do not peal unless the skin seems particularly tough, as the skin gives stewed rhubarb it attractive color. Cut stalks in 1-inch pieces, add the sugar and water. Covered saucepan and cook slowly until rhubarb is tender, about 5 minutes. Chill and serve plain or with cream. 5 or 6 servings.

VARIATION: A COMBINATION OF HALF RHUBARB AND HALF STRAWBERRIES STEWED TOGETHER IS DELICIOUS.

STEWED PEACHES

1 ½ lb. cling or freestone peaches
½ cup water
½ cup sugar more or less

Choose well-ripened, juicy but firm fruit. Peal and halve peaches and remove stones. Add water and sugar, cover and simmer slowly until peaches are soft (5 to 15 minutes, the time depending on size and the quality of peaches). Cool peaches, chill and serve plain or with cream. 5 servings.

(Any of these recipes I have been posting can have by covering the dehydrated or freeze dried products with hot water and let sit until rehydrating. Drain off excess liquid. Add sugar and any additional water necessary to make ½ cup liquid.)

Cooking with freeze dried products becomes very easy and your family will love the taste. It takes a little longer to rehydrate dried fruits. But the flavor is there and the extra time is worth the effort. After all the pealing and cutting is already completed for you.

STEWED APRICOT PUR’EE

½ lb. dried apricots
2 cups cold water

Wash the apricots, soak and cook just as for Stewed Apricots (Quickly but thoroughly, using cold water). When done, rub through a coarse sieve, using a wooden spoon, and continuing to rub until only a dry mass or fiber remains in the sieve or put through a food mill. For a sweetened purée. Stir in ¼ to 1/3 cup sugar, according to taste; but many recipes call for unsweetened purée. Makes 2 cups.

STEWED APPLES

Fall apples tend to keep their shape when cooked rather than mushing up like summer apples. Jonathans, Pippen, Spyrs, Baldwins and many other varieties are more adaptable to stewed apples that apple sauce. They should be cooked in a sugar syrup from the beginning to aid in keeping their shape and color.

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 quart peeled quartered apples (about 8 medium)
1 lemon, juice or slices as desired
Cinnamon, if desired
Cream

Combine sugar and water and heat to boiling. Add apples, cover, and cook slowly until syrup boils; continue cooking gently, pressing the apples don occasionally with a spoon until they are tender and transparent-looking. If lemon slices are used, cut very thin and add to the hot syrup along with the apples. If lemon juice is preferred, add when apples are done. Add cinnamon to give desired color and flavor. Serve in their own syrup, warm or cold, with cream is desired. 5 to 6 servinges.

HONEYED APPLES AND CRANBERRIES

4 Medium Jonathan or Greening Apples

2 cups cranberries (½ lb.)

1 ½ cups water

½ cup honey

1 cup sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

2 cinnamon sticks (if desired), 4 inches long.

Wash, Pare and core apples. Place in saucepan. Add cranberries and water; cover and simmer five minutes. Gently turn apples to obtain and even red color. Add remaining ingredients and continue to cook covered until apples are tender (15 to 20 minutes. First lift out apples into a dish, then pour cranberries over them and let cool. Chill and serve with fowl or pork . 4 servings.

FRUIT HONEY COMPOTE

1 Teaspoon lime rind
¼ cup lime juice (2 limes)
4 medium Jonathan apples
¼ cup honey
¼ cup raisins
1 doz. prunes, cut small
1 doz. dates, cut small
¼ cup nuts, if desired

Peel, core and thinly slice the apples. Arrange apples in layers in a buttered casserole, sprinkling each layer with sugar and dotting with butter. Cover the casserole and bake in a moderate oven (350 F.) for 40 minutes or until tender. Serve hot with a sprinkling of sharp grated cheese, if desired or chill before serving. 5 or 6 servings.