Water Ices-How to Prepare and Finish Them

The base of all water ices is the pulp or juice of fruits, with sugar syrup prepared beforehand at thirty-two degrees, or else substitute a pound and a half of sugar for each quart of water. The syrup gauge (Fig. 167) is the only arbiter for ascertaining the proper degree; they can be prepared from fourteen to twenty-four degrees. At eighteen degrees a thin ice is obtained called granite. Eighteen to nineteen degrees is an excellent degree for water ices prepared for the taste of this country, although in some climates they are made as high as twenty-four degrees. At this degree very fine and consistent ices are formed, but they are objectionably sweet and therefore not generally liked, so that water ices at eighteen to twenty degrees are considered the best-eighteen degrees with fruit pulps and twenty degrees for fruit juices, or sometimes twenty-two, according to the acidity of the fruit. The juice of three lemons make about a gill; for this quantity use two pounds and a quarter of sugar and one pint of water, obtaining a quart of syrup at thirty-degrees. To freeze the fruit preparation it requires two freezers, one of a high shape and the other semi-spherical. Before freezing the mixture in the semi-spherical freezer it must be packed in salted ice and the inside wiped out neatly, then pour in about a gill of the preparation to try its consistency, working it with a small spatula, and if found to be sufficiently congealed pour in about two quarts to freeze, setting the semi-spherical freezer in motion and detaching at times with the spatula any particles that may adhere to the sides. As soon as the ice attains a proper consistency remove and lay it in a small, long sorbetiere (freezer) also imbedded in salted ice. The ice should be worked vigorously with the spatula to have it acquire body, then imbed it once more, letting all the superfluous water run out of the hole at the bottom of the pail, adding more salted ice, packing it down with a stick; cover the pail with a lid or a cloth to prevent any air from entering and keep it thus until ready for use.