Strawberry Cups

A frozen shell of strawberry water ice lining small moulds, filled at the last minute with fresh berries and cream. The whole trick is keeping the lining hard enough to hold its shape while you work.

• Strawberry iceIn period usage "ice" ordinarily means a water ice — sweetened crushed strawberries, churned — rather than an egg-custard ice cream. The recipe itself gives no formula; a water-ice base freezes firm enough to hold a moulded wall.
• The ice caveAn ice cave was a packed box or pail of crushed ice and coarse salt in which filled moulds were buried to ripen and set hard. A modern freezer at 0F or below does the same job; the two hours in the original is a fair minimum, and longer does no harm.
• Cups and mouldsThe recipe specifies only "cups"; small metal timbale or dariole moulds, or teacups, would suit. Metal chills faster and releases more cleanly than china.
• Lining techniqueWork with the ice at soft-scoop stage, press it up the sides with a chilled spoon, and hollow the well deeper than looks necessary — the walls slump slightly as they set. Chilling the empty moulds first stops the first layer from melting on contact.
• UnmouldingDip the mould in cool water for two or three seconds only, then invert onto a chilled plate. A warm cloth or hot water will glaze and collapse the rim of a water ice very quickly.
• Assemble at the tableFill and top only as they go out. Juice from sugared berries will soften the frozen shell, and the whipped cream is better unsweetened or barely sweetened against the sugar in the ice.
• Other fruitsRaspberry, apricot and peach ices all line moulds well. Very juicy melon or pineapple ices freeze softer and hold a shape less reliably.
• YieldNo quantity is given. As a rough guide, a quart of finished ice would line something like six to eight small cups, with berries and a spoonful of cream apiece.