Citron Cream

History

Citron Cream is a frozen cream printed among the ice-cream recipes in Mary Randolph's The Virginia House-Wife, first published in 1824. Its 'citron' is the citron melon (Citrullus lanatus var. citroides / C. amarus), a hard-fleshed watermelon relative grown for preserves and pickling — not the citrus fruit also called citron; the recipe treats it as a fruit, macerating the ripest, seeded slices under powdered sugar for several hours, then freezing the drawn-off sweet syrup with cream, and notes pineapple may be substituted. The book's ice creams are, per reference works, the first ice-cream recipes published by an American author, and its 'Observations on Ice Creams' spell out the period freezing method: a deep pewter freezer set in a tub of ice and salt and kept 'constantly in motion'. Beyond its appearance in this book, the historical record does not document an earlier origin, geographic lineage, or social meaning specific to this dish.

Ingredients

• citron melons
• powdered sugar
• cream

Instructions

1. Cut the finest citron melons when perfectly ripe and remove the seeds. Slice the nicest part into a China bowl in small pieces that will lie conveniently together. Cover them with powdered sugar and let them stand several hours.
2. Drain off the syrup the fruit has made. Add as much cream as the syrup will allow to give a strong flavor to the mixture.
3. Freeze the mixture.