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Lemon Sherbet
Rub the yellow rind of five small lemons with three-quarters of a pound of loaf sugar. Crush the latter to powder, put it into a saucepan with a pint of water, and simmer gently until the sugar is dissolved. When cold, add the strained juice of the lemon. Take out the rind, and serve the sherbet in glasses. Time, a quarter of an hour to simmer the syrup. Probable cost, 8d. Sufficient for six or seven persons.
This is a drink, not a frozen dessert eam cold lemon syrup served in glasses. The whole character of it comes from the first sentence, so do not skip it.
- Rub the rind, don't zest itDragging whole lumps of sugar over the lemons abrades the peel and pulls the oil straight into the sugar — the technique now usually called an oleo-saccharum. Grated zest steeped in syrup is a weaker substitute; if you use a peeler, take broad strips of yellow only and muddle them with the sugar for a few minutes before adding water.
- Loaf sugarRefined sugar sold in hard cones or blocks, broken up with nippers. Any granulated white sugar works, though a rough lump sugar gives more abrasion against the peel. Three-quarters of a pound is about 1 2/3 cups.
- Imperial pintA period pint is 20 fl oz, so use 2 1/2 US cups of water. With 12 oz of sugar this makes a fairly heavy syrup.
- The quarter hour of simmeringFifteen minutes is far longer than sugar needs to dissolve, and it reduces the syrup and drives off some of the volatile lemon oil. Warm it only until the sugar is clear, then take it off the heat and cover it while it cools.
- Juice goes in coldThis instruction matters. Lemon juice heated in syrup loses its brightness and takes on a cooked, marmalade note. Wait until the syrup is genuinely cold before adding the strained juice of the five lemons — roughly 2/3 cup.