Frozen Maple Cream

I would be a poor friend indeed if I kept this recipe to myself. I cannot imagine anyone disliking this delightful concoction for any reason, but I especially recommend it to you if you are a fan of maple syrup. Real maple syrup, that is – the kind in the tall plastic beige jugs (or the slim glass flasks that suggest you might want to keep one in your jacket pocket for surreptitious swigs now and then) – not the ones labeled “pancake syrup” and “made with real maple flavor."

I found this recipe in Mary Emma Showalter's Mennonite Community Cookbook, a time-honored classic of my mother's day. I confess to preferring The Joy of Cooking (Irma S. Rombauer), the Frugal Gourmet, Extending the Table, and my Betty Crocker, partly for the fact that they tend toward more flavorful (not to mention more colorful!) recipes, and partly because I have never, in any of them, found ingredients listed which were then mysteriously excluded from the directions (or vice versa – ingredients not mentioned in the ingredient list which are then mysteriously called for in the directions, amounts unspecified). I guess I just don't like that much mystery in my cooking (although this might surprise my husband, who encourages me, from time to time, to actually follow the recipe if I am using it for the first time). But I suppose that's just part of the charm of recipes handed down, and down, and down, and down......

I do want to give credit to Mary Emma for including this recipe in her cookbook, giving the original credit to a Mrs. John Danford of Dayton, OH. Thank you, Mrs. John Danford, for sharing this exquisite dessert with the world, and you will forgive me, I hope, for adding some of my own directions to the original, as we no longer use “freezing trays” in our refrigerators, and as whipping fresh cream was not as intuitive to me as it evidently was to you. (I also changed the name)

Without any further ado, I present to you.......

Frozen Maple Cream

1 ½ teaspoons unflavored gelatin

¼ cup cold water

½ cup boiling maple syrup

1 cup whipping cream

½ teaspoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon salt

Chill 6-cup bowl (glass or metal) and mixing beaters in freezer. Sprinkle gelatin over cold water and let soften five minutes. Meanwhile, heat the maple syrup to boiling and slowly stir it into the gelatin. Stir until gelatin is fully dissolved. Cool in the fridge while you whip* the cream, being watchful that the maple syrup doesn't gel prematurely. Pour cream into the chilled bowl and beat with the chilled beaters on medium-low until it starts to thicken. Reduce speed to low, and beat until soft peaks form. Add the chilled (but not set!) maple gelatin to the cream gradually, beating as you pour, along with the vanilla and salt. Cover bowl and set in freezer. Beat or whisk every 30-60 minutes until the dessert is too thick to whisk.

Be sure to share with the rest of the household!  (although it is considered marginally acceptable to “test” it to make sure it has frozen and is safe to eat).

[* a few notes on whipping cream....it calls for a cup of whipping cream, which you then whip.  If you just buy whipping cream at the grocery store, I imagine it's a pretty straightforward process, but where would the fun be in that?  I get my milk raw, and have to skim the cream, so here is what I learned through trial and error:

Let the milk set for 24 hours.  Skim the cream.  Age the cream (3 days is okay, 6 days is too old).  Follow the recipe's directions for beating the cream, being careful not to beat it too long and inadvertently make butter, especially on a warmer day.]

There.  Now you know everything that I do about making Frozen Maple Cream!