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Milk Lemonade
Mix three fourths of a cup of lemon juice with two cups of sugar and one quart of boiling water. When the sugar is dissolved add one and one half pints of milk. Serve hot or cold.
A sweet, thin drink meant to be made in quantity and ladled out. The only real technical question is whether the milk curdles when it meets the acid, and that is worth handling deliberately.
- The hinge: acid plus milkThree quarters of a cup of lemon juice is more than enough to curdle a pint and a half of milk. Let the sweetened lemon water cool to lukewarm, then add the milk in a slow stream while stirring, and serve promptly; the sugar and dilution keep most batches smooth, but a hot, undiluted pour will separate on contact.
- If it does breakCurdling is not failure in this family of drinks. Historic milk lemonades were often deliberately curdled, then strained through a jelly bag or several layers of cheesecloth to give a clear, silky, faintly creamy liquid. Either finish is defensible; decide before you start.
- MeasuresA quart is 4 cups, a pint 2 cups, so the finished drink is roughly 4 cups water, 3 cups milk, 3/4 cup juice and 2 cups sugar: a little under two quarts, or eight modest glasses.
- MilkIn 1919 this meant whole, non-homogenized milk, and cream would rise in the pitcher. Whole milk is the closest match. Skim milk curdles more readily and tastes watery here.
- SugarTwo cups to three quarters of a cup of juice is period-sweet. Starting at one cup and tasting once the water is in gets you a drink most people will finish.
- LemonsThree quarters of a cup is the juice of roughly four to six lemons, depending on size. Bottled juice works but tastes flat against this much dairy; fresh is worth the squeezing.
- Served hotIf you take the hot option, keep it well below a simmer. Boiling the assembled drink guarantees separation and gives the milk a scalded flavor.
On Uncle Sam's Water Wagon belongs to the flood of temperance drink books that appeared as national Prohibition came into force in the United States, offering hostesses something to pour that was not water. Milk lemonade itself is much older than the dry years: versions appear in English and American household books through the nineteenth century, sometimes with sherry or brandy, and often strained clear through a bag after the acid has thrown the curd, which produced a drink that looked like cider and tasted faintly of cream. It was also recommended for invalids, being sweet, cold, and more nourishing than plain lemonade, which is part of why it sat comfortably in a book of alcohol-free recipes. The instruction to serve it hot or cold is a reminder that lemonade in this period was not automatically an iced summer drink.