As you’ve probably heard on the news (or experienced when you step out your door for more than 5 seconds) we are currently in the middle of a BAD heat wave in my neck of the woods, New England. So, this seems like a perfect time to do another Historical Food Fortnightly challenge! Especially because the theme of this particular challenge was “Ice”!
It was so exciting to research this particular challenge, mainly because there are so many receipts to choose from. Unlike the previous one, where I had to look long and hard for one or two options, there was a plethora of ice creams, ices, ice drinks, iced cakes, and many other frozen treats! But, like love at first sight, I knew this receipt would be the one the moment I read the title… Frozen Coffee! What is NOT to love about that!
FROZEN COFFEE
“Three pints cream, 1 quart fresh milk, 1 pint sugar, 1 teacup strong drip coffee, 1 tablespoon arrowroot dissolved in a 1/2 cup of cold water. Put on in saucepan the milk and 1 pint cream. When hot add sugar, coffee and arrowroot. Let boil until thickened to consistency of custard, stirring all the time. Set aside to cool. When cold, stir in remaining quart of cream. Then freeze.”
Smith, Jacqueline Harrison “Famous Old Receipts Used a Hundred Years of More…” 1908
So, as the coffee was steeping, I started to heat up the 1 quart (4 cups) of milk and 1 pint (2 cups) of cream in a sauce pan.
Now, I was steeping my coffee mainly because I don’t have a drip coffee maker. I more make coffee as a treat than a daily necessity. I only have my wonderful French press (I know, fancy). So I made the coffee a bit stronger than normal and allowed it to sit several more minutes than I normally do, but not before I poured myself a cup! Yum!
I then measured out the sugar and the “arrowroot” mixture. I put “arrowroot” in parentheses because I didn’t have any arrowroot on hand. But, after asking Google, I found out that you can substitute corn starch for arrowroot at a 1:1 ratio. So, into the 1/2 cup of cold water I put in 1 Tbl of cornstarch instead.
A note with the cornstarch mixture. If you make it ahead of time, keep a fork ready to mix it up again. The cornstarch will settle again very quickly and will need a quick mix up before being poured into the cream mixture.
After the milk/cream mixture was heated (and I realized that I would need a MUCH bigger vessel then a saucepan to mix the rest of the ingredients in) I added in the sugar, cornstarch mixture, and about 3/4 a mug of coffee (I like coffee and had no teacups handy). As I stirred it all together I found it went from a light cream to a light cafe-au-lait look. And the smell was quite pleasing (but I personally LOVE the smell of coffee).
As the milk/cream/sugar/coffee/cornstarch mixture started to bubble I started to stir.
“Stir till it was the consistency of custard.” I’m always a little bit wary when the directions don’t really give an amount of time for a task. Especially older receipts. But, figuring the cornstarch would work its magic soon, I kept going. Luckily modern women have access to their phones, so I was able to watch YouTube videos while I stirred.
20 MINUTES LATER…..
It wasn’t much thicker than when I started. So, deciding that the coffee diluted the cornstarch a little too much, I added another dose of cold water and cornstarch to the liquid in hopes that it would help to thicken it quickly.
40 MINUTES AFTER THAT….
Success!!! And a VERY tired arm!!!
The mixture had reduced by half and had thickened nicely. And I’d gotten caught up on several YouTube videos.
I then set it aside (with a cover on) and let it cool for several hours (somewhere between two and three hours).
Once the mixture was quite cool I added the rest of the cream and mixed it all together. At this point I gave it a taste and found it to be quite sweet and having a good, strong essence of coffee. I poured it into 3 plastic quart containers and put them in the freezer for 12 hours.
12 HOURS LATER…
Yay! Frozen Coffee Treat!
It is deliciously smooth and sweet with a wonderful essence of coffee flavor. But, most importantly, it is COLD!
A perfect treat for when there is a massive heat wave moving through your neck of the woods and all you want to do is sit in front of your air conditioner and not move.
Which is how I feel right now! At least I have something cold and delicious to eat!