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Lemonade, Mock
Put half a dozen drops of essence of lemon upon six ounces of loaf sugar, and add a quarter of an ounce of tartaric acid. Pour a quart of boiling water upon them, and mix thoroughly. Time, about three minutes to prepare. Probable cost, 2d. Sufficient for a quart of lemonade.
A Victorian pantry drink built from three shelf-stable ingredients and no fruit at all. It works, though the acid level is assertive and the flavour is one-dimensional next to fresh juice.
- Loaf sugarSix ounces (170 g) of granulated or caster sugar does the same job. Loaf sugar came as a hard cone that was nipped into lumps; its only advantage here was purity, which modern sugar matches.
- Essence of lemonThis is lemon oil dissolved in alcohol. Modern bottles sold as "lemon extract" or "lemon flavouring" vary widely — some are oil in alcohol, others diluted or synthetic — and strengths differ enormously, so start with two or three drops, taste, and build up.
- Tartaric acidA quarter ounce is about 7 g, giving roughly 0.6 per cent acid in an imperial quart. Buy food-grade tartaric acid (sold for winemaking and baking); citric acid can stand in and tastes slightly rounder.
- Why boiling waterThe heat dissolves the sugar and acid completely and helps disperse the oil, which will not dissolve in cold water on its own. Mix while hot, then chill; poured straight over ice it is likely to cloud.
- QuartAn imperial quart is 40 fl oz, about 1.14 litres — slightly more than a US quart. Either measure gives a drinkable result.
- Yield and servingEnough for four tumblers. Serve cold; if it tastes flat rather than sour, try a little more essence before adding acid.
- KeepingMade with no fresh juice, it keeps several days covered in the refrigerator. The aroma fades first; the acidity does not.
Mock lemonade belongs to a large Victorian family of "mock" preparations — mock turtle, mock cream, mock goose — in which cheap staples stand in for something costly or out of season. Lemons were imported and priced accordingly, while a bottle of lemon essence and a paper of tartaric acid sat in the cupboard indefinitely and cost twopence a quart. Tartaric acid itself came from argol, the crust deposited by wine in the cask, and by the mid-nineteenth century it was a cheap industrial by-product sold to bakers as a raising agent, to confectioners, and to households making effervescing drinks and sherbet powders. Recipes like this one are why the acid was in the house at all.