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Frozen Apricot Mousse
2 cups sweetened pureed apricots 2 cups apricot juice 1/2 pound marshmallows, cut up 3 tablespoons cold water 1 tablespoon gelatine 1/3 cup cold water 3/4 cup sugar 3 egg whites, beaten stiff cup cream, whipped 1/2 teaspoon salt Mix the puree, apricot juice and marshmallows and stand over hot water until marshmallows are melted. Soften gelatine in cold water, dissolve over hot water and add to the first mixture. Boil water and sugar until it threads and pour over the whites of eggs. Combine with apricot mixture, then fold in cream and salt. Freeze in electric ice box or in salt and ice, packed 1 to 3, for 4 hours. Serve in tall glasses, topping with whipped cream. Serves twelve.
A still-frozen mousse from the era when the electric refrigerator was new enough to sell cookbooks. Nothing is churned, so the marshmallow, the gelatine and the Italian meringue are all doing structural work — skip any of them and you get a block of apricot ice.
- Apricot juiceThis means the syrup from canned apricots, or the thin liquid strained from stewed dried apricots. Modern apricot nectar works and is the closest equivalent; it is sweeter than the original, so consider cutting the 3/4 cup sugar slightly.
- Cream quantityThe ingredient list gives "cup cream, whipped" with no number. One cup of heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks, suits this volume of fruit base; the whipped cream called for as a topping is additional and is not quantified anywhere in the recipe.
- Two watersThe 3 tablespoons cold water soften the gelatine. The 1/3 cup is for the sugar syrup. They are not interchangeable — measure them into separate vessels before you start.
- Threading syrup"Boil until it threads" is roughly 230-234F on a thermometer, just below the soft-ball stage. Pour it into the stiff whites in a thin stream while beating and keep beating until the meringue is cool to the touch, or the cream will deflate when you fold it in.
- MarshmallowsThe recipe's "cut up" assumes full-size marshmallows rather than a bag of miniatures. Half a pound of minis melts faster and should give the same result; stir over hot, not boiling, water so the sugar does not scorch on the bottom of the bowl.
- Freezing"Electric ice box" means the freezer compartment of a refrigerator — set as cold as it goes. The salt-and-ice alternative packs one part rock salt to three parts crushed ice around a mould. Four hours gets it firm; a full night is better, and it needs 10 minutes at room temperature before serving.
- Raw whitesThe hot syrup heats the whites but does not reliably pasteurise them, and the mousse is never cooked afterwards. Use pasteurised egg whites if serving anyone elderly, pregnant or immune-compromised.
- YieldTwelve tall glasses is accurate — this makes close to two quarts of aerated mixture. It can also be frozen in a loaf pan and sliced.