Grape Ice

A plain water ice of the sort that filled the sherbet course in early twentieth-century menus. The whole method is in two lines, which means everything depends on how you freeze it.

• YieldThe mixture comes to roughly 3 cups before freezing, or about a pint and a half finished. That is four modest servings in the small glasses these ices were meant for, two if you serve it as dessert.
• "Freeze" meant a crank freezerThe original assumes a hand-cranked pail packed with cracked ice and coarse salt, roughly three parts ice to one part salt by volume. In an electric ice-cream maker, chill the syrup mixture thoroughly first and churn 20-25 minutes.
• Still-freezingWithout a machine, pour into a shallow metal pan and freeze, breaking up and stirring the frozen edges into the centre every 30 minutes for about three hours. A water ice left undisturbed sets into a solid block of sweet ice rather than a scoopable one.
• Boil the syrup, then cool itFive minutes at a boil dissolves the sugar and concentrates the syrup a little; it is the sugar content of the finished mixture that keeps the ice from freezing rock hard. Let it cool completely before adding the juices, so the heat does not flatten the fresh juice flavours.
• Grape-juiceThis means unfermented bottled Concord juice, the sweet purple kind that was widely sold by 1900 and is still the closest match. Modern white grape juice gives a paler, blander ice; if you use it, lean on the lemon.
• StrainThe straining catches citrus pulp and membrane, which freeze into tough flecks. A fine sieve is enough; there is no need for cloth.
• Adjusting sweetnessTaste the cold mixture before freezing. Cold blunts sweetness noticeably, so a mix that tastes correct at room temperature will seem thin once frozen; commercial juices vary enough that you may want another tablespoon of sugar or of lemon.