Lemon Ice Cream – look close to see the small yellow bits of lemon rind.

According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, today is supposed to be the last day of the “dog days of summer”.  Apparently the weather in Texas does not subscribe to that kind of folk lore since we’ll still be roasting well into September.  At least.  But when it’s really hot, that just means homemade ice cream tastes even better.

Here’s another vintage “receipt” that we tried out.  It is a “Philadelphia” ice cream, made without eggs.  It’s a bit different from what we’re used to, since these days lemon and citrus flavors are usually seen in sherbets and ices – not dairy based ice creams.  But it was nicely flavored and the cream gave a little hint of a buttery taste.

Lemon Ice Cream

1 quart of cream (I used whipping cream in lieu of fresh cow’s cream)

9 ounces (by weight) of powdered sugar

4 tablespoonfuls of lemon juice

Juice of one orange

Grated yellow rind of 3 lemons (I used a lemon zester to peel off the yellow rind and then chopped the rind fine)

Mix the sugar, the grated rind and juice of the lemons, and the orange juice together.

Put half the cream in a double boiler over the fire; when scalding hot, stand it aside until perfectly cold; add the remaining half of the cream and freeze it rather hard.

Remove the crank and the lid, add the sugar mixture, replace the lid and crank, and turn rapidly for five minutes; repack to ripen.

This will serve six people.

Recipe from Ice Creams, Water Ices, Frozen Puddings, Together with Refreshments for all Social Affairs by Mrs. S. T. Rorer, Arnold and Company, Philadelphia, 1913  

**In the foreword of this cookbook, there are some tips and “general directions for all recipes”.  There is discussion of what to do if cream cannot be purchased but I chose to use readily available whipping cream.  But for those that would like to try the instructions given for when “cream” is not available – here they are:

“In places where neither cream nor condensed milk can be purchased, a fair ice cream is made by adding two tablespoonfuls of olive oil to each quart of milk.  The cream for Philadelphia Ice Cream should be rather rich, but not double cream.”

If you decide to make your own “cream”, I would recommend that you do NOT use extra virgin olive oil.  I would recommend one of the olive oils labeled “light” or “light tasting”, or maybe even one of the new butter flavored oils.  Regular extra virgin olive oil usually has a taste that is too heavy for putting into things like this.  Or homemade mayonnaise.  Yes, I know this from experience. 🙂

For info on types of cream and exactly what is “double cream” versus “cream” check out this informative link on types of cream.