historical ice cream recipes

all written down and made by Lord Giano Balestriere:

Cinnamon sorbet (after Audiger, 1692)

To make cinnamon water:
30g cinnamon sticks (a good handful)
4 cloves
250ml water

bring the water to a rolling boil, throw in the cloves and cinnamon and remove from the heat. Leave to steep overnight, then strain. Reserve the water for use with various ices.

To make the sorbet:
50ml cinnamon water
200ml water
100g sugar

mix all ingredients, put in a coldproof container and freeze. Shake and/or stir approximately every 15 min to cive it a granita-like consistency.

Strawberry sorbet (after Audiger 1692)

250g strawberries
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
2-3 tbsp lemon juice

Wash strawberries, remove leaves and puree. Add sugar, water and lemon juice. Mix well, then strain. Place in a coldproof container and freeze as above.

Apricot sorbet (after Massialot, 1705)

300g apricots
200ml water
100g sugar

Stone and slice the apricots. Bring the water and sugar to a boil, then add the apricots, take the mix-ture off the heat and let it stand. Pass it through
a foodmill, then beat or mix it thoroughly. Freeze as above.

Nut milk ice (after Latini, 1692)

1 cup pine nuts
1 cup almonds
water to cover
1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar
coriander
succade or other confits

Soak pine nuts and almonds in a bowl with enough water to cover them overnight. Process them and strain off the liquid. Mix in sugar to taste and
season with a pinch of coriander. Freeze in an ice-maker, stirring continuously. When almost finished, stir in a small handful of confits.

Chocolate ice (after the anon ’sorbette booklet‘)

2 squares unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup water
70g sugar
1 egg yolk

Melt the chocolate in the water, stirring continously, Mix in the sugar, then remove from the heat and cool, still stirring. Beat in the egg yolk and re-heat while beating with a whisk until the mixture thick-ens. Pour into a coldproof container and freeze as a block.

Candied egg yolks (after Corrado, 1778)

3 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tsp cinnamon water (see above)

Cook a sugar syrup with water and sugar. Cool, beat in the egg yolks and cinnamon water, and reheat slowly, beating continously until the mixture thick-ens. Remove from the heat and cool. Keep beating so the result is fluffy. Pour the custard into a container and freeze as a block.

Toasted almond ice cream (after Corrado 1778)

3 egg yolks
1 cup crushed almonds
1 cup rich milk or cream
1 tsp cinnamon water (see above)

Make a custard with the milk and egg yolks, and stir in the cinnamon water. Toast the almonds till lightly browned, then process them to a coarse powder. Add the custard and mix. Our into a container and freeze, stirring every 15 minutes to prevent the almonds from sinking to the bottom.