Although it is in America that there is a greater consumption of ice cream, it is in Italy that it was first made, and in various European capitals it is the Italian gelatiere who prepares the frozen delicacy. A few Italian recipes of gelati will then be acceptable, we believe, as a conclusion to this little work.

216

BISCUIT

(Pezzo in gelo)

Make a cream with:

Water, five ounces.
Sugar, two ounces.
The yolks of four eggs.
A taste of vanilla.

Put it on the fire stirring continually and when it begins to stick to the ladle remove from the fire and whip to a stiff froth. Then mix about five ounces of ordinary whipped cream, put in a mold and pack in salt and ice.

Keep in ice for about three hours.

This dose will be sufficient for seven or eight persons.

217

LEMON ICE

(Gelato di limone)

Granulated sugar, ¾ lb.
Water, a pint.
Lemons, three (good sized).

Boil the sugar in the water, with some little pieces of lemon peel, for about ten minutes, in an uncovered kettle. When this syrup is cold, squeeze the lemons one at the time, tasting the mixture to regulate the degree of acidity. Then strain and put in the freezer packed with salt and ice.

218

STRAWBERRY ICE

(Gelato di fragola)

Ripe strawberries, ¾ lb.
Granulated sugar, ¾ lb.
Water, one pint.
A big lemon.
An orange.

Boil the sugar in the water for ten minutes in an uncovered kettle. Rub through a sieve the strawberries and the juice of the lemon and the orange: add the syrup after straining, mix everything and pour the mixture in the freezer.

219

ORANGE ICE

(Gelato di aranci)

Four big oranges.
One lemon.
One pint of water.
Sugar, ¾ lb.

Squeeze the oranges and the lemon and strain the juice.

Boil the sugar in the water for ten minutes, put in the juice when cold, strain again and put in the freezer.

220

PISTACHE ICE CREAM

(Gelato di pistacchi)

Milk, one quart.
Sugar, six ounces.
Pistaches, two ounces.

Skin the pistaches in warm water and grind them very fine with a tablespoonful of the sugar, then put in a saucepan with the yolks and the sugar, mixing everything together. Add the milk and put the mixture on the fire stirring with the ladle and when it is condensed like cream, let it cool and put in the freezer.

221

TUTTI FRUTTI

To make this ice a special ice cream mold is necessary, or a tin receptacle that can be closed hermetically.

Take several varieties of fruits of the season, ripe and of good quality, that is to say, strawberries, cherries, plums, apricots, a big peach, a good sized pear, a piece of good cantaloupe. Peel, skin and remove stones and cores of all these fruits. Then cut them into very thin slices, throwing away the cores and stones.

When the fruit is prepared in this manner, weigh it, and sprinkle over one fifth of its weight of powdered sugar, squeezing also one lemon. Mix everything and let the mixture rest for half an hour.

Put a sheet of paper in the bottom of the mold that is to be filled with the fruit pressed together, close, and pack in salt and ice, keeping it for two hours or a little less.

This is not the tutti frutti ice cream as is known in America, but a macÉdoine of fruits, that comes very pleasant to the taste in the summer months.

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