Frozen Fruit Cubes

A 1930s refrigerator novelty: fruit suspended in sugar syrup, frozen in a shallow tray and cut into cubes at the table. The whole thing hangs on the syrup being cold and the pan being shallow.

• The syrupHalf a cup of sugar to one cup of water. The recipe gives no method; dissolving the sugar over heat and then chilling the syrup before the fruit goes in will keep the strawberries firmer than adding them to warm syrup.
• Freezing unitThis means the small ice-cube compartment of a period refrigerator, which ran colder than the cabinet but warmer and less reliably so than a modern 0F freezer. Use an ice-cube tray with the divider removed, a loaf pan or an 8-inch square pan; anything deeper than about an inch freezes unevenly.
• Proportions"Equal parts" is by volume of cut fruit; the recipe gives no quantity. As a working guide, about 1 cup each strawberries and pineapple with enough syrup to cover will fill an 8-inch pan to about half an inch.
• PineappleFresh is best here for flavour, but canned pineapple works and was common in the period, generally packed in syrup rather than juice. Drain it well or the extra liquid thins the syrup.
• TimingFour to six hours in a modern freezer sets it solid. Unlike a sorbet it is not stirred or scraped, so there is nothing to do in between.
• CuttingStraight from a modern freezer it will be too hard to cut cleanly. Let it stand 5 to 10 minutes, run a knife dipped in hot water, and cut into 1/2-inch squares.
• ServingSpoon into chilled sherbet or coupe glasses and serve at once; the cubes soften quickly. An 8-inch pan gives four to six small servings.