Watermelon Ice (1919) ★★★★

12:00 AM 1910s , 20th century , 4 stars , fruit , gluten-free , interwar , united states , vegan 2 Comments

This is one of the few watermelon recipes I could find that was NOT for pickling the rind. Apparently that was a popular thing back in the day, because I've never seen a recipe for pickled watermelon rind in a modern cookbook.

Original Recipe:

Cut a watermelon in halves, scoop out the entire center, taking out the seeds; chop in tray; add a cup of sugar. Pack the freezer, turn a few minutes. It will be like soft snow and delicious.

The Verdict:
This was alright. Not amazing, but not bad either. I just diced my watermelon, but I think pureeing it in a food processor would have really improved the "soft snow" texture. I bet you could even do this in an ice cream maker for a nice soft-serve consistency.

Modernized Recipe:
(Adapted from Vaughan's Vegetable Cook Book)

1/2 WATERMELON, chopped
1 cup SUGAR

1. Roughly chop the watermelon. Remove the seeds. Save the rind if you want to make a nice presentation.
2. In a food processor, puree the watermelon and the sugar.
3. Use an ice cream maker or freeze in a 9x13 pan, scraping every 30 minutes or so with a fork until all the liquid is frozen.