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Frozen Apricot Punch
1 cup Karo, Red Label 1/3 cup orange juice Juice and rind 1/2 lemon Combine the ingredients, pack in three parts of cracked 1 can apricots put through a sieve Few grains salt transfer to an ice cream freezer, ice to one of rock salt and freeze.
A churned fruit ice with no dairy and no cooked syrup, sweetened entirely with corn syrup. The text runs the ingredient column and the method together, so read the instructions as: sieve the apricots, combine everything, then pack the freezer with three parts cracked ice to one part rock salt and churn.
- Karo Red LabelKaro was sold under colour-coded labels, and the Red Label is generally identified as the darker, refiners'-syrup grade rather than the pale Blue Label. Dark corn syrup will match the period product most closely; light corn syrup gives a cleaner apricot flavour if you prefer it.
- A can of apricotsCanned fruit of the era came in more than one size; a No. 2 can, about 2.5 cups of halves in syrup, is a reasonable reading, though a larger No. 2 1/2 can is equally possible. Drain lightly, since the packing syrup adds sweetness on top of a full cup of Karo, and puree in a blender or food processor instead of pressing through a sieve.
- Three parts ice to one of rock saltThat is the classic ratio for a hand-crank freezer, measured by volume, and it brings the brine well below freezing. If you are using a modern machine, chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator first and churn as you would a sorbet.
- Sweetness and textureCorn syrup resists crystallising, so this will stay softer than a sugar-based ice: expect a slushy, spoonable consistency rather than a firm scoop, and serve it soon after churning.
- Without a freezerIt can be still-frozen in a shallow metal pan, but it must be stirred hard every 30 to 40 minutes until set or the outside will freeze to a solid rim while the centre stays syrup.
- The saltA few grains sharpens the apricot and keeps the syrup from tasting flat. Do not leave it out.
- Lemon rindGrate it fine and add it with the juice. Left in strips it will contribute little.
- Yield and serviceAbout a quart, enough for six to eight small portions. This is a frozen punch in the older sense, served in cups or sherbet glasses partway through a meal rather than as dessert.
Recipes like this one belong to the promotional cookbooks issued by American corn-syrup refiners in the early twentieth century, which set out to prove that Karo could replace cane sugar in everything from candy to frozen desserts. The dish itself is a "frozen punch": a fruit ice, unenriched by cream or egg, that formal American and English menus placed between the heavier courses to clear the palate, in the same slot a sorbet or granita occupies. Canned apricots made it a year-round proposition in a period when the fresh fruit had a short season and travelled badly.