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Sugar Boiler's Assistant

A chilled coconut ice made with grated coconut, milk, water, sugar, and egg whites, set in a freezer with ice and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Wells, Robert · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Sugar Boiler's Assistant

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the base

  1. Grate the white meat of 3 fine cocoanuts and collect the milk they contain.

  2. Add the coconut milk and 3 quarts of filtered water to a pot, place on the fire, and boil for ten minutes.

  3. Pour the mixture into an earthen or stoneware crock, cover, and let it infuse until nearly cold.

  4. Strain the mixture and press off the liquid with a fine sieve.

Make the ice

  1. Add 1 lb. of pulverised sugar and the whites of 3 eggs to the liquid, and mix thoroughly.

  2. Dissolve gelatine.

  3. Pour the mixture into a freezer already imbedded in ice and salt.

  4. Pour all into your freezer and freeze as for other ices.

  5. Freeze and finish as other ices.

By Wells, Robert. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Coconut (in the method)
Provides the main coconut milk flavour and the body of the base.
Eggs
Whites add lightness and help the ice hold a smooth, airy texture.
Sugar (in the method)
Sweetens the base and lowers its freezing point for a softer texture.
Gelatine (in the method)
Helps the frozen mixture hold together and resist coarse ice crystals.

The step that matters

Let the mixture infuse until nearly cold before straining. Infusing lets the flavour of the coconut spread into the liquid. Straining while it is still hot can leave the base thin or cloudy, and sugar and egg whites added to a warm base can separate or lose air.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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