Pineapple Ice Cream

A three-ingredient Philadelphia-style ice cream: no eggs, no cooking, just fruit-steeped cream frozen in a churn. The whole character of it depends on the canned pineapple, which in this period came packed in heavy syrup.

• The sugar is not the whole sugarHalf a cup for three pints of cream reads as barely sweet, and it would be, except that a can of pineapple of the period would most likely have brought a sugar syrup into the bowl along with the fruit. Taste the strained base before churning and add sugar until it is slightly sweeter than you want the finished ice cream, since freezing mutes sweetness.
• Can sizeThe recipe gives no weight. Period grated pineapple came in cans of roughly 14 to 20 oz; a modern 20 oz can of crushed pineapple in syrup or juice is the closest match. Use it with its liquid.
• Why canned and not freshCanned pineapple has been heat-treated, which destroys the bromelain in the fresh fruit. That matters less for plain cream than for anything set with gelatin, but fresh pineapple will also give a sharper, more acidic base that can look curdled at the edges.
• StrainingThe instruction sends all the fruit to the bin and keeps only the perfumed cream, which is what gives this its smooth texture. If you would rather have fruit in the finished ice cream, reserve a few spoonfuls of drained pulp and stir it in during the last minute of churning.
• Chill before freezingThirty minutes of steeping at room temperature leaves the base warm enough to slow any modern machine. Refrigerate it to 40F or below before it goes in, and freeze in an ice-cream maker per its instructions, or in the traditional bucket churn with crushed ice and rock salt; recommended proportions vary, but something in the region of six to eight parts ice to one part salt by volume gives a slower, smoother freeze than a saltier mix.
• CreamUse heavy cream, or two parts heavy to one part whole milk if you want it lighter. Straight heavy cream can churn to something close to sweet butter if you overwork it, so stop when it holds a soft ribbon.
• YieldAbout two quarts once churned, serving twelve to sixteen. Ripen it in the freezer for two hours before serving; without eggs or stabilizers it hardens quickly, so let it sit out five minutes before scooping.