I’ve written two books and several articles on ice cream. As you can imagine, I’ve tasted more ice creams, ices, and other frozen desserts than most. This maple parfait is one of the best I’ve ever had. And you don’t even need an ice cream freezer to make it.
The recipe comes from the book Good Things to Eat, published in 1911, and
written by a former slave named Rufus Estes.
Born in 1857, the youngest of nine children, Estes grew up in Tennessee on the plantation of D. J. Estes, from whom he got his surname. After the Civil War, when he was just 16, Rufus Estes went to work at a Nashville restaurant. From there, he worked on Pullman railway cars and catered to the great and powerful, from President Grover Cleveland to famed pianist Ignace Paderewski. Later he worked as a private chef and traveled the world, eventually settling down as a chef at U. S. Steel and writing his book.
He wrote that good eating was one of the pleasures of life, and said he hoped that when people made his dishes they would “with kindly feelings think from whence some of the good things emanated.” If they did, Estes went on, “the author will feel amply compensated.”
His book had recipes for many good things, from soups to soufflés, from roasts to ragouts. He sautéed thin slices of apples and onions in bacon fat and served them with pork. He baked pancake-like cakes, shaped them to resemble calla lilies, and filled them with whipped cream. His recipe for candied violets began, “Gather the required quantity of perfect sweet violets, white or blue. If possible, pick in the early morning while the dew is still on them.”
Estes knew his audience. A recipe for glazed sweet potatoes concluded with the statement – “This way of preparing sweet potatoes pleases the Southern taste, which demands sugar added to the naturally sweet vegetable.” He introduced a raspberry ice cream sauce by writing: “If you think that a good ice cream is yet not quite fine enough, pour a raspberry sauce over each portion as served.”
Estes had more than a dozen recipes for ice creams, sherbets, and frozen parfaits, many of which are unusual. He made a black currant ice cream, molded it, and turned it out onto a platter to be garnished with crystallized cherries and angelica leaves. He suggested that his cranberry sherbet be served at Thanksgiving dinner, after the roast turkey. He made a lush “Glace des Gourmets,” vanilla ice cream enhanced with caramelized almonds, rum, and macaroons. It was served garnished with macaroons in brandy.
My favorite, though, is his simple, elegant maple parfait. When you make it, rather than packing it in ice and salt as the original recipe suggests, pour into a mold, which can be as simple as a bowl, cover it, and put in the freezer until ready to serve. Whenever I make it, I think of Rufus Eastes with extremely “kindly feelings.”
MAPLE PARFAIT
Beat four eggs slightly in a double boiler, pour in one cup of hot maple sirup, stirring all the time. Cook until thick, cool, and add one pint of thick cream beaten stiff. Pour into a mold and pack in equal parts of ice and salt. Let stand three hours. – Good Things to Eat, Rufus Estes, 1911.
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