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Violet Ice
Put 1/2 pound of cleaned violet petals into 11/2 pints of boiling syrup. Let them infuse for 10 minutes; strain the whole through a sieve; let it cool, and finish it with the juice of 3 lemons.
The ice is then frozen and molded in the usual way. (From A Guide to Modern Cookery, written by A.
Escoffier, when he was Chef in Chief to the Carlton Hotel, London. Though not intended for use in a woodsy dell, it would go well for a porch picnic.) South Carolina: Jessamine
Escoffier's water ice depends entirely on the infusion: violets give up their perfume in minutes and lose it just as fast, so speed and a covered pan matter more than anything else.
- The quantities as printedThe volume is 1½ pints of syrup, or 3 cups. Half a pound of petals is an enormous amount by modern standards — several quarts of loosely packed blossoms — and the recipe scales down honestly to about 2 cups of petals per 3 cups of syrup for a lighter but still fragrant ice.
- Syrup strengthEscoffier assumed a kitchen with standing sugar syrup on hand; the recipe does not say how heavy. For 3 cups of syrup, dissolve about 1 lb sugar in 2 cups water and bring to a boil.
- Which violetsSweet violet, Viola odorata, is the flower meant; garden pansies and violas are edible but carry little or no scent, so they will not give this ice its perfume. African violets (Saintpaulia) are unrelated and not used in food. Use blossoms you know have not been sprayed, and pick off the green calyx, which is bitter.
- Infuse covered, off the heatPour the boiling syrup over the petals rather than boiling the petals in it, cover the pan for the 10 minutes, and strain at once. Prolonged heat turns the scent hay-like and drives off the volatile oils that are the whole point.
- ColourThe infusion runs greyish-lavender at best and often brownish. A few drops of the lemon juice stirred in early will shift the anthocyanins pink; the full juice of 3 lemons brightens the colour as well as balancing the sugar.
- "Frozen and molded in the usual way"In Escoffier's day that meant a freezing pot packed in a pail of crushed ice and coarse salt and worked with a paddle, the finished ice then packed into a mould buried in the same ice and salt. An ice-cream machine gives the same result; without one, freeze in a shallow tray and break up the crystals with a fork every 30 minutes for about 3 hours.
- Texture checkA water ice with this much sugar will not set hard. If it stays slushy after several hours, the syrup was too heavy — thin the next batch with water; if it freezes to a solid block, add a little more syrup or lemon juice.
- YieldAbout 1 quart, serving six as a small course. Serve it the day it is made, in chilled glasses, since the perfume fades in the freezer within a day or two.