The "Queen" cookery books: Ices

IThe ordinaiy ices, served in cups or plates, at receptions, balls, confectioners, &c., possess much greater variety than many persons imagine, even granted that they realise tbe gradations of the ordinary cream (?) ice ; from the delicate variety obtainable at a first-rate confectioners, to the awful hokey-pokey of the Italian ice-cream vendor at street corners, the delight of the street Arab, and the horror of the microbe and bacillus hunter. The Jitter compound, it may be observed in passing, is by no means so deadly a concoction as many people fancy, if infant mortality in oui’ large towns would stand at a considerably higher average than it even actually does. The actual component parts are Harmless enough, egg powder, skim or Swiss milk, corn-flour, and cheap sugar being the principal ingredients ; the danger comes in with the water and :e used. One need hardly dwell on the unsavouiy aaracter of the latter, as if projjerly managed it does, or should, not affect the ice appreciably, but the • ater is a serious question ; and a still more serious one is the ignorance of even the most rudimentarv elements of sanitation that marks the worth}' manufacturer of sucli cheap luxuries. To start with the two chief' kinds, the Italian, or more properly the Neapolitan, and the American. The first is produced hy preparing a more or less rich custard, which is cooked without being allowed to boil, until on stirring it with a spoon the mixture will coat the latter thinly. It is then allowed to cool, when the flavouring essences, fruit pulps, hqueurs, &c., are added, the whole is sieved, and when cold is placed in the freezer. For the custards, you can use eight egg yolks and 4oz. caster sugar to the pint of cream ; or, four egg yolks to the pint of single cream or new milk, and 3oz. to 4oz. of caster sugar, with the whites whipped to a stiff froth with a tiny pinch of salt (this is made somewhat differently from the usual way, as the egg yolks are beaten up with the sugar till hght, then lightly and quickly mixed in the stiffly whipped whites, and finally stirred over the fire with the milk till it thickens) ; then there is a still simpler kind made with a pint of milk, one well whisked egg, an ounce or so of sugar, and a tablespoonful of cornflour ; and lastly there is a wonderful production made by stirring an ounce or so of cornflour till smooth in a little cold milk, then adding 1oz. to 2oz. of sugar and enough skim milk to make up a pint altogether ; let this boil together for five or six minutes at least, till perfectly smooth, and use when cold . This is of course not custard properly speaking, but it answers very fairly well, especially if about |oz. of leaf gelatine be dissolved in the mixture. A A tablespoonful of Swiss milk dissolved iu tlie milk usually adds considerably to the richness.