The Aberdeen
Put a ladleful of vanilla ice cream into a sherbet glass, pour over two tablespoonfuls of maple syrup and a spoonful of toasted cornflakes.
A three-component fountain sundae that depends entirely on the quality of its parts and on speed of assembly.
- The sherbet glassA fountain sherbet glass of the period typically held something in the range of 5 to 6 ounces on a short stem. Any small stemmed or footed glass works; a footed shape lets the syrup pool visibly around the ice cream rather than run off a flat dish.
- A ladlefulRead this as one fountain scoop of about 2 ounces (a No. 16 disher), or a rounded 1/4 cup. One scoop, not two.
- Maple syrupUse pure maple syrup, Grade A dark for a pronounced flavour. Fountain 'maple' of this period was often a maple-flavoured cane or corn syrup blend rather than the pure article, so the original may well have tasted flatter than a bottle of real syrup gives you now. Two tablespoons is enough.
- Toasting the cornflakesCommercial flakes come pre-toasted but taste raw and papery straight from the box. Spread them on a dry sheet pan and toast at 350F for 4 to 6 minutes, shaking once, until they smell nutty and turn a shade darker. Cool completely or they will melt the ice cream on contact.
- Assembly orderFlakes go on last, and go on at the table. Cereal in maple syrup loses its crackle within a minute or two, which is the whole point of the garnish.
- YieldOne glass. The proportions scale directly for a crowd; toast the flakes in a single batch ahead of time and hold them uncovered at room temperature.
This comes from a book of soda-fountain formulas from the era when the fountain trade was positioning itself to inherit the saloon's customers. Druggists and fountain men needed a deep catalogue of named drinks and sundaes, and the naming convention seems generally to have been to borrow places, hotels, colleges and society figures more or less at will, which is why a sundae of ice cream, maple syrup and breakfast cereal ends up called The Aberdeen with no particular Scottish connection on the plate. The cornflakes are the period detail worth noticing: ready-to-eat flaked cereal was still a relative novelty then, with a health-food reputation. Maple syrup was a standard fountain syrup alongside chocolate, crushed fruit and marshmallow, and the pairing of maple with toasted grain reads as a deliberate nod to a breakfast plate served in a stemmed glass.