Perhaps this is not widely known but our beloved icecream is a very old invention. Bon viveurs in Ancient Greece, Rome, the Far East, and Persia were all familiar with desserts based on iced water. The first icecream recipes had more in common with sorbet, often being a mixture of snow and fruit pulp. Then in the 16th century, France was acquainted with Italian delights, most of which had been introduced to our continent by the Arabs: together with biscotti and macarons, the followers of Catherine de' Medici brought icecream - or cream ice, as was its name until the 19th century. The first icecream recipes were published in French and Italian cookbooks; later on, the plain mixture of cream, sugar & yolks was enhanced with flavor. An expert on marmalades, liqueurs and other fruit-based recipes named Massialot (whose 'confiture de prunes' we adapted some time ago), was a pioneer in making flavored icecreams as well.
Early icecreams were made of cream and milk but sometimes also used soft white cheese. You can easily adapt fromage glacé in your kitchen by substituting ricotta, Quark or yoghurt for milk. In fact, a healthy version of icecream is possible to make with only ricotta, instead of the calorie-packed double cream; there is a slight difference in texture because fat is essential for lightness but your 'ricotta ice' will be much closer to early versions of cream ice. Also, the reason why early icecream was not as smooth as ours was basically the lack of electric power for whisking, churning and freezing the ingredients. Technically speaking, your 17th century icecream (as in the recipe shared below) will not be 100% authentic unless you are prepared to chill the mixture in a bucket full of ice and salt.
The icecream recipe I chose to adapt from Massialot's Nouvelle instruction pour les confitures, les liqueurs et les fruits (1712 edition) is named 'English-style frozen cheese'. Unlike other recipes in the same chapter, however, it doesn't use cheese at all. The recipe immediately before this is enhanced with aromatic fruits so you can follow the link to page 245 and re-create a parfait that might have been served at Louis XIV's table. (The book was first published in 1692.) Alternatively, you can mix some fruit into the English-style icecream featured here: "Fromage à l'Angloise. Prenez une chopine de Crême douche & chopine de lait, demi-livre de Sucre en poudre, y délaïer trois jaunes d'oeufs, et faire boüillir jusqu'à ce que cela soit en petite boüillie; le descendre du feu, et le verser dans vôtre moule à glace, & le mettre à la glace l'espace de trois heures; et lorsqu'il sera ferme, vous retirerez le moule & le chauferez un peu, afin de tirer vôtre Fromage plus facilement, ou bien vous mettrez le moule un moment dans l'eau chaude, ensuite servez-le dans un compotier."
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FROMAGE GLACÉ
This recipe is slightly adapted from Massialot's 'English-style frozen cheese': it uses the same number of eggs but the cream and milk quantity is halved. If you keep to the original recipe, you'll end up with a thinner mixture that's more like frozen yoghurt than parfait. You should chill this one longer but even then it wouldn't be a good idea to unmold the finished icecream. If you substitute ricotta for milk, the icecream will be dense -and pleasantly coarse in texture.
I n g r e d i e n t s
250g cream
240g milk
110g sugar
3 egg yolks
vanilla pod+seeds (optional)
M e t h o d
1. Place the cream in bowl. Add the vanilla pod and seeds (if using) and refrigerate overnight. 2. The next day, place the cream in a saucepan with the milk and heat gently. 3. Whisk the sugar with the yolks. Add half of the liquid and keep whisking, then reverse into the saucepan and cook the mixture, stirring with a spoon, until it bubbles. 4. Pour into 2 individual ramekins and leave to cool. 5. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours, then freeze. 6. To serve, wash the ramekins with hot water for a minute. If liked, upturn onto a plate.
V a r i a t i o n
Add 125g bittersweet chocolate to the liquid ingredients in the saucepan and mix well.
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