No. 3553

Fromage Glace

Have an iced mold (see Fig. 684); divide it in three parts with partitions made of tin and pack it well in salted ice. Put into a vessel three-quarters of a pound of apricot pulp, a gill and a half of raspberry juice, the juice of two oranges, three-quarters of a pound of powdered sugar and one pint of cream; strain this through a sieve and freeze, adding to it the same quantity of whipped cream (No. 50). Arrange this preparation in one of the compartments, in the other strawberry water ice (No. 3607), and in the third hazel-nut ice cream (No. 3464), adding apricots macerated in maraschino. Take the partitions out, fill up, coat well, pack the mold in salted ice, freeze for one hour, then unmold on a napkin. This preparation is rarely used nowadays.

← No. 3552 Frascati Ice Cream Ices & Ice Creams No. 3554 Harlequin Ice Cream →

For the Modern Kitchen

A three-part molded ice, one compartment of apricot-raspberry cream, one of strawberry water ice, one of hazelnut ice cream with maraschino-soaked apricots. The hinge is the mold: everything else depends on having the three mixtures frozen firm and the mold cold enough that the partitions can be pulled without the layers slumping together.

A gill and a halfA gill is half a cup, so this is 3/4 cup of raspberry juice. The apricot pulp at three-quarters of a pound is about 1 1/2 cups of sieved fruit.
The sugar is a period quantityThree-quarters of a pound of powdered sugar reads very sweet now; note that "powdered" here means finely ground granulated rather than modern confectioners' sugar, so the cup equivalent depends on which you use. Sugar is doing structural work here — it keeps the base soft enough to scoop after hours in a brine-packed mold — so cutting it hard will give you a brick.
"The same quantity" of whipped creamRanhofer does not say same as what. The likeliest reading is the pint of cream, i.e. fold in about a pint of whipped cream after the base has been churned, though an equal volume of the finished base cannot be ruled out.
Salted ice, and what to use insteadA brine of ice and rock salt draws heat out of a metal mold far faster than freezer air can, which is why an hour in the pail does the work. A modern freezer set to its coldest, with the filled mold buried among frozen packs, is the practical substitute.
One hour is not enoughAn hour in salted ice was adequate because the brine was in direct contact with the metal. In a freezer, allow four hours at minimum and preferably overnight before attempting to unmold.
The tin partitionsAny rigid, food-safe dividers cut to fit will do; foil-wrapped card works. Fill each compartment with mixture already churned to a firm, spreadable state, freeze until set, then withdraw the partitions before filling the seams and coating over the top as directed.
Cross-referencesNos. 3607 and 3464 are separate recipes in the same section — strawberry water ice and hazelnut ice cream. Any good version of each will serve; they need to be alike in firmness so the mold cuts cleanly.
Unmolding and yieldUnmolding -- Dip briefly in cool water and invert onto a chilled plate lined with a folded napkin, as directed; the napkin absorbs meltwater. The recipe gives no mold size, so no yield can be stated.

A Little History

Fromage glace means frozen cheese and contains none; the name is usually explained by the shape and method, molded ices being turned out and sliced across like a pressed cheese, though that derivation is traditional rather than documented. Molded and layered ices of this kind appear in French confectionery from the eighteenth century onward, built up in partitioned molds and buried in a pail of ice and rock salt. Charles Ranhofer, chef at Delmonico's in New York and the author of The Epicurean (1894), catalogued dozens of these composite ices — Harlequin, Frascati, Nesselrode — from a repertoire built before mechanical refrigeration, when a restaurant's ice house was as much a piece of kitchen equipment as its range. His own closing line, "This preparation is rarely used nowadays," is the more interesting document: even in the 1890s the elaborate partitioned mold was going out.