Heritage ice cream returns for the summer

All true connoisseurs of ice cream in this city know that the Ginger Ice Cream, lovingly prepared by the fort’s own culinary historians, and available during the summer at the Canteen, is not only exquisite, but rare. It is rare because one must arrive at the garrison early enough in the morning to find some; and one must also be lucky, because it might strike the fancy of the cooks that day to indulge in something else altogether.

But it’s a favourite at Fort York and definitely not secret: the recipe is reproduced in our own cookbook of historical drinks and desserts, Setting A Fine Table. The ginger recipe – whose history is explained, and which is rendered in modern terms – is based on The Complete Confectioner: or The Whole Art of Confectionery, 1789, by Frederick Nutt. He’s also the source of the strawberry recipe below. The delicious result (along with three glasses of Lemon Ice Cream) is pictured outside Fort York’s kitchen. Photo by Melissa Beynon

No. 139.
FRESH STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM.

TAKE one pint of fresh stawberries, pick the stalks from them, and pass them through a sieve with your wooden spoon; add four ounces of powdered sugar to them, and one pint of cream; freeze it, &c.