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The Alexandria
Place two lady fingers on a plate, and cover with vanilla ice cream. On the ice cream put one lady finger and pour over crushed peaches. Decorate with whipped cream.
An assembly recipe rather than a cooked one, so the only variables are the quality of the components and the order they go in. A few notes on what the original assumes you already have on the counter.
- Lady fingersSavoiardi, the dry Italian-style finger biscuit, are the closest thing on a supermarket shelf. American usage of the term often covered a soft, sponge-cake finger rather than a crisp biscuit, so a split ladyfinger sponge or a strip of genoise may be nearer the mark.
- Crushed peachesFountain "crushed fruit" was a standing preparation: peeled ripe fruit chopped and stirred with sugar, sometimes with a little of its own syrup, and left an hour to draw out juice. Roughly 2 tablespoons sugar per cup of diced peaches, allowed to sit until syrupy, reproduces it. Canned peaches in syrup, drained and chopped, are the honest year-round substitute.
- Whipped creamCream for fountain work needed to hold a piped shape in a warm room, which points to light sweetening and a fairly stiff whip. Heavy cream with about a tablespoon of sugar per cup, taken to firm peaks, behaves that way; aerosol cream slumps quickly into the fruit syrup.
- Quantities and yieldThe original gives none. As a working serving: two lady fingers on the base, ice cream to cover, a third finger laid on top, and roughly 1/3 cup crushed peaches.
- The hingeThe third lady finger goes on the ice cream, under the fruit, so it soaks the peach syrup while the two beneath stay dry. Pour the fruit over that top finger rather than around the ice cream, or the whole plate turns to a pool.
- Serving vesselThe original specifies a plate, and the arrangement depends on it: the lady fingers are meant to be visible and cut with a spoon. A chilled shallow bowl works; a tall sundae glass defeats the arrangement.
- Chill everythingPlate and fruit both cold, ice cream taken straight from the freezer. This dessert has no cooking step to hide behind and falls apart at room temperature faster than most.
Fountain sundaes of this kind were commonly named after cocktails, cities, hotels and stage personalities, and the names were largely a matter of marketing, with similar constructions appearing under different labels. The layering of sponge fingers with ice cream and macerated fruit echoes the older restaurant repertoire of moulded bombes and charlottes, reduced here to something a soda clerk could assemble to order.