The Making of Fruit Ice Preparations

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Small heavy saucepan
• •Blender, food processor, or sturdy mortar
• •Fine-mesh sieve, about 8 inches (20 cm)
• •Flexible bowl scraper
• •1½-quart ice-cream machine
• •Digital refractometer, optional
• •Shallow metal saucer for the cold test

Instructions

1. 1

   Choose the route

   Use one route, not both. Route 1 suits fruit that readily becomes a smooth purée, such as raspberries, strawberries, currants, apricots, peaches, or plums. Blend or pound the prepared fruit, then rub it through a fine sieve and measure 2 cups (480 ml / 500 g). For Route 2, leave the pound of prepared fruit in pieces until it meets the sugar. Keep all fruit cold; warmth makes the sweetness seem louder than it will taste when frozen.

   Press soft pulp through the sieve with a flexible scraper, but stop when only seeds, fibres, or skin remain. Grinding those remnants through makes berry purées bitter and stone-fruit purées muddy.
2. 2

   Make 32° syrup

   For Route 1, combine the 420 g sugar and 280 g filtered water in a small saucepan. Warm over medium-low heat, stirring only until every crystal dissolves and the syrup turns perfectly clear, about 3 to 5 minutes. Do not reduce it; the point is dissolution, not caramel. This 3-to-2 ratio by weight gives the practical home equivalent of cold syrup at 32° Baumé, about 60° Brix. Cool the saucepan in an ice bath, then refrigerate the syrup until thoroughly cold. You will have a little more than 2 cups, leaving enough for correction.

3. 3

   Build route one

   Measure 2 cups of cold fine fruit purée and exactly 2 cups of cold 32° syrup into a nonreactive bowl. Stir gently until uniform; do not whip in air. Taste a cold spoonful, then add lemon juice a teaspoon at a time, stopping when the fruit tastes clearer and livelier. A sharp currant may need none, while a sweet peach may want the full measure. Lemon corrects acidity, not freezing strength.

4. 4

   Build route two

   For Route 2, put the pound of prepared fruit and the full 10 ounces (283 g) of sugar into a food processor or sturdy mortar. Pound or pulse until the sugar draws out the juice and the fruit becomes a wet, fragrant pulp. The processor replaces the old mortar honestly because the endpoint is ruptured fruit, not tired arms. Rub the mixture through the fine sieve, then stir in cold filtered water ¼ cup (60 ml / 60 g) at a time, beginning with 1 cup, until the purée flows like thick juice. The fruit's natural sugar decides how much water it will accept.

5. 5

   Test the balance cold

   Chill either preparation for at least 30 minutes before judging it. With a refractometer, aim for 30° to 32° Brix, a practical range for a domestic freezer. Do not confuse the scales: the Route 1 syrup began at 32° Baumé, about 60° Brix, while this reading is for the diluted finished preparation. If the reading is high, add cold filtered water 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) at a time. If it is low, add reserved cold 32° syrup; for Route 2, make the same correction syrup with 3 parts of the optional sugar and 2 parts water by weight, warm only to dissolve, then chill it before adding. Retest after every correction.

   Without a refractometer, spread a tablespoon of preparation on a metal saucer that has been frozen until very cold. Return it to the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes, then scrape and taste. It should freeze softly and taste one shade sweeter than you want at the table. Hard, brittle crystals need syrup; a sticky sample reluctant to freeze needs water. Ça se rattrape.
6. 6

   Churn the glace

   Chill the corrected preparation until very cold, then churn it in a fully prepared ice-cream machine according to the machine's instructions, usually 20 to 30 minutes. Stop when the glace holds the tracks of the paddle and gathers into a dense, rounded mound. If it remains pourable, first check that the freezer bowl is still properly frozen. If the machine is cold and the base still will not set, the preparation carries too much sugar; chill it again, dilute with cold water or unsweetened fruit purée, retest, and rechurn.

7. 7

   Set and serve

   Pack the churned glace into a shallow covered container, press parchment directly against the surface, and freeze for at least 4 hours. Temper it in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes before scooping. If it freezes hard enough to resist the spoon, the base was under-sugared: soften it in the refrigerator until stirrable, work in a little cold 32° syrup, then rechurn. Serve in chilled bowls or coupes while the fruit is vivid and the texture fine. À table!

Chef Tips

• •The two routes are alternatives. Route 1 gives you direct control through equal measures of purée and syrup; Route 2 is useful when pounding fruit with sugar draws out its perfume and juice before dilution.
• •Use ripe fruit with a full aroma, not merely a handsome surface. Unsweetened frozen berries are an honest answer out of season; thaw them in the refrigerator and include every drop of their juice.
• •The fine sieve is not decorative fuss. Seeds, coarse fibres, and scraps of skin interrupt the close texture that separates a glace aux fruits from a rough frozen granité.
• •Acid and sugar do different jobs. Lemon sharpens a sweet fruit, while sugar controls softness and body; adding lemon cannot rescue an under-sugared preparation.
• •Without an ice-cream machine, freeze the preparation in a shallow metal pan and beat it vigorously every 30 minutes, scraping the frozen edges into the centre each time. Repeat 4 or 5 times. The texture will be slightly more crystalline, but the balance remains faithful.

Advance Preparation

• •The 32° syrup can be made up to one week ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Measure it only when thoroughly cold.
• •Either finished preparation can be balanced and refrigerated up to one day before churning. Press parchment or reusable wrap directly against the surface to limit oxidation.
• •Churn the glace at least 4 hours before serving. For the finest fruit aroma and texture, keep it tightly covered and serve within one week.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 150g)