Pineapple Ice

A water ice rather than a cream, and the whole of it depends on getting enough sugar into a very acidic base. The original assumes a hand-cranked bucket freezer packed with ice and rock salt.

• Sweeten to taste, but generouslySorbet needs far more sugar than it does at room temperature, since cold blunts sweetness and sugar is what keeps the texture from freezing to a solid block. For roughly a quart of juice and water, start near 1 cup of sugar and adjust; if the base tastes slightly too sweet warm, it is about right frozen.
• Dissolve the sugar firstGranulated sugar stirred into cold juice dissolves slowly and may leave grit. Easiest is to warm a little of the water with the sugar into a syrup, cool it, then combine with the fruit and lemon.
• Fresh pineapple and gelatinRaw pineapple contains bromelain, which digests protein. It matters nothing here, but do not use this base for a sherbet set with gelatin or folded with cream without cooking the juice first.
• One pineapple is vagueGrated and strained, expect roughly 1 1/2 to 2 cups of juice from a modern pineapple, which with the lemon and water gives about a quart of base.
• "Freeze it as ice cream"In an ice-and-salt bucket freezer that meant cranking steadily, about 20 to 30 minutes. In a modern machine, chill the base thoroughly first and churn 20 to 25 minutes, then firm it in the freezer for two hours.
• Without a machineFreeze in a shallow pan and rake with a fork every 30 minutes until it is granular, which gives a granita rather than a smooth ice. Left unstirred it will set as a solid ice block.
• YieldAbout a quart, serving six as a course between dishes or four as a dessert.