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Fruit Frappe
One-half ounce crushed orange, ½ ounce crushed cherry, ½ ounce crushed pineapple, 1 ounce sweet cream, small ladle of ice cream. Shake well, using both streams, fine and coarse. Serve in frappe glass. Top off with sliced pineapple and sherry. Serve straws.
A fountain drink written for a soda dispenser and a jar of crushed fruit, both of which need translating for a home kitchen.
- Crushed fruit is not fresh fruit"Crushed orange," "crushed cherry" and "crushed pineapple" were commercial fountain products: fruit macerated and packed in heavy syrup, sold by the gallon for exactly this purpose. Substitute a good preserve or fruit-in-syrup thinned to a pourable consistency; plain fresh fruit will taste thin and sour in these proportions.
- The ounces are fluid ouncesFountain work was measured by the ounce with a graduated pump or ladle. The three half-ounces of fruit and one ounce of cream together come to two and a half fluid ounces, or five tablespoons.
- A small ladle of ice creamFountain ladles ran roughly one to two ounces, so a "small" one is on the order of a tablespoon or two of ice cream rather than a full scoop. The flavor is unspecified; vanilla is a reasonable choice.
- "Both streams, fine and coarse"This refers to the carbonated water draft arm, which drew a coarse stream for volume and a fine spray for foam. The recipe says to shake, so the soda was evidently played into the shaker cup as part of the mixing. At home, shake the fruit, cream and ice cream briefly with a little crushed ice, then top with cold seltzer to build the head.
- Frappe glassA footed fountain glass; sizes varied. Any tall 8 to 10 oz glass works; the drink should come near the rim with foam above it.
- The sherry on topAmbiguous as written: it may mean a small pour of sherry wine, or a sherry-flavored fountain syrup, both of which were available. Treat it as a scant teaspoon floated over the top, and leave it out if the drink is for children.
- Frappe here means semi-frozenThe word describes the texture, not a blended slush. The result should be thick and cold.
- YieldOne glass. Serve immediately; the cream and carbonation both fall apart within a few minutes.
Soda fountain manuals like this one were trade books, written for the dispenser behind the counter rather than the cook at home, which is why the instructions assume a carbonated water arm with two streams and jars of crushed fruit already at hand. Frappes sat between a plain soda and a sundae: enough ice cream to give body, enough carbonation to keep it lively, and a garnish that justified the price. The float of sherry is a reminder that American fountains and bars were not yet strictly separate worlds.