Covington Cream

A frozen cream flavored with strong oolong and rum, meant to be served half-frozen rather than scooped. The rum and sugar together keep it soft, which is the whole point.

• Freeze to a mush, not to firmThis is a frappe, not an ice cream: it should be spoonable slush that slumps in the glass. In an ice cream machine, pull it when it looks like thick wet snow; if still-freezing in a shallow pan, stir the mixture every 20-30 minutes and stop before it sets hard.
• Formosa tea infusionFormosa tea is oolong from Taiwan, widely sold in America in this period. The recipe gives no strength, but since half a cup has to flavor a quart of cream a strong infusion is implied; cool it completely before mixing.
• Dissolve the sugar firstThree-quarters of a cup of sugar dissolves slowly and unevenly in cold cream and can leave the mixture gritty. Easiest is to stir it into the hot tea infusion, then chill the syrup before combining with the rum and cream.
• Why it stays softThe rum and the heavy sugar load together lower the freezing point, which is why the recipe asks only for a mush. Expect it to stay slushy at ordinary freezer-and-ice temperatures rather than setting like an ice cream.
• CreamThe recipe says only "cream." A heavy cream gives the smoothest result; lighter cream or half-and-half will freeze grainier and thinner.
• Frappe glasses and yieldThe ingredients come to roughly a quart and a half before freezing; the number of servings depends entirely on the size of the frappe glasses. Chill the glasses; the mush softens fast at room temperature.