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The Wellington
Mix chopped walnuts with marshmallow cream, and pour over any flavored ice cream.
A fountain formula rather than a kitchen recipe: two components and an assembly, with proportions left to the man behind the counter. A few decisions have to be made for you.
- ProportionsThe recipe gives none. Start with 1/2 cup marshmallow cream to 1/3 cup chopped walnuts and adjust, spooning on a generous tablespoon or two per serving.
- Marshmallow creamPeriod fountain marshmallow was typically a whipped sugar syrup with egg white and gelatin or gum, and was generally loose enough to pour. Jarred marshmallow crème sold today is much stiffer; thin it with a spoonful of hot water, simple syrup or cream and beat smooth so it will actually flow over the ice cream.
- Not warmThe recipe says only to pour it over, with no heating; served cool the topping sets into a soft skin against the ice cream rather than melting a well into it.
- The walnutsIf you want to toast them, do so dry in a moderate oven until fragrant, then cool completely before chopping. Chop to a coarse rice grain, not a dust.
- "Any flavored ice cream"The instruction is genuine latitude, but the topping is very sweet. Coffee, chocolate and burnt-almond flavours carry it better than vanilla.
- Glassware and yieldSundaes of this period were commonly served in a small footed glass rather than a bowl. The quantities above will dress several servings; judge by the tablespoon or two per glass.
On Uncle Sam's Water Wagon (1919) is a Prohibition-era collection of non-alcoholic drinks aimed largely at the home; the title is a joke on "being on the water wagon." Formula books of the period listed dozens of sundaes distinguished only by a topping and a name, and proprietary or borrowed names like The Wellington were part of the appeal. The word sundae itself is generally traced to the 1890s, the spelling often explained as a way of invoking Sunday without offending sabbath sensibilities, though the story is traditional and several towns claim it, among them Ithaca, New York. Marshmallow cream was a fountain staple long before it reached grocery shelves, whipped up in quantity from egg white and sugar syrup.