Grape Ice

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Digital sugar refractometer reading at least 0 to 50 °Bx, or a syrup hydrometer marked in degrees Baumé
• •1½-quart electric ice cream machine
• •Fine-mesh sieve and flexible spatula
• •Nonreactive mixing bowl
• •Shallow 1-quart freezer container

Instructions

1. 1

   Ready the cold

   Freeze the removable bowl of a 1½-quart ice cream machine until completely solid, usually at least 24 hours. Chill a shallow 1-quart container as well. A half-frozen churn bowl cannot pull heat from the juice quickly enough, and slow freezing makes coarse crystals.

   A compressor machine needs no frozen bowl, but prechill it according to its instructions before the grape mixture goes in.
2. 2

   Combine the juices

   If pressing whole grapes, crush them gently with a potato masher or food mill and press without breaking the seeds, which can make the juice bitter. Measure exactly 1½ Imperial pints (850 ml) of juice into a nonreactive bowl, then add the strained juice of all three lemons. Mix thoroughly before testing. The lemon changes both the flavor and the density, so a reading taken from grape juice alone tells you nothing useful.

   Allow about 3½ pounds (1.6 kg) ripe grapes to obtain the required juice. The exact yield depends on the variety and the press.
3. 3

   Set the sugar

   Take a reading with the pèse-sirop or refractometer. Whisk in the superfine sugar about 2 tablespoons (25 g) at a time, letting each addition dissolve and the foam settle before testing again. As the mixture approaches the target, reduce each addition to 1 teaspoon (4 g). Stop at 20° Baumé, approximately 35 to 36 °Bx on a modern refractometer. Sweet grapes have already done much of the work, so the gauge, not a fixed cup measure, decides the final amount. If you pass the mark, don't freeze it and hope. Ça se rattrape. Dilute it with additional unsweetened grape and lemon juice in roughly a 7:1 ratio, then test again.

4. 4

   Sieve and chill

   Rub the entire mixture through a fine-mesh sieve with a flexible spatula, as the source directs. This removes lemon pulp, grape skin, and any undissolved sugar while keeping the finest fruit in the base. Cover and chill until thoroughly cold, at least 2 hours and no warmer than 4°C (40°F). A warm base freezes slowly and gives you large, blunt crystals.

5. 5

   Churn the ice

   Start the machine before pouring in the cold mixture so none freezes into a solid layer against the bowl. Churn for 20 to 30 minutes, until the glace aux raisins is thick, fine-grained, and holds soft ridges from the dasher. If it remains liquid after 30 minutes, the bowl was not cold enough. Return the base to the refrigerator, freeze the bowl completely, and churn again; the mixture is not lost.

6. 6

   Firm it gently

   Pack the freshly churned ice into the chilled shallow container, press parchment directly against the surface, cover, and freeze for 2 to 3 hours. It should become firm enough to scoop while yielding after a few minutes at room temperature. If it stays syrupy after several hours, melt it, recheck the sugar, dilute an excessive reading with the same 7:1 grape-and-lemon mixture, and rechurn.

7. 7

   Scoop and serve

   Let the container stand for 5 to 10 minutes, longer in a very cold freezer. Dip a serving spoon briefly in hot water, wipe it dry, and draw generous scoops into chilled coupes. Serve the glace aux raisins bare. Its color and clean grape perfume require no decoration. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose fragrant, fully ripe grapes whose juice tastes sweet before any sugar is added. Muscat, Chasselas, and ripe dark table grapes all work, though each gives a different color. Technique first: the reading corrects the sweetness from one batch to the next.
• •If good fresh grapes aren't available, use unsweetened 100 percent pressed grape juice, not a sweetened grape drink. Bottled juice will taste quieter than fresh pressing, but it is more honest than tired fruit, and the sugar must still be measured after the lemon is added.
• •The source's 20° is a Baumé reading, not 20 °Bx. On a modern refractometer the equivalent is about 35 to 36 °Bx. This distinction decides whether the finished ice scoops or freezes into a block.
• •Use superfine sugar rather than confectioners' sugar. The source's powdered sugar was pure crushed sugar; many modern confectioners' sugars contain starch, which clouds the color and leaves a dusty finish.
• •A palate can balance grape against lemon, but it cannot judge freezing structure precisely. The pèse-sirop is not fuss here. The gauge is the recipe.

Advance Preparation

• •Freeze a removable churn bowl at least 24 hours ahead. It should make no sound when shaken; any liquid movement means it needs longer.
• •The sweetened, sieved base can be prepared and refrigerated up to 24 hours before churning. Stir it well and confirm the sugar reading before it enters the machine.
• •For a celebration or outdoor meal, churn the glace aux raisins the same morning and keep it tightly covered. Transport it in a well-packed cooler with frozen blocks, then allow several minutes for tempering before serving.
• •The finished ice keeps well for about 3 days with parchment pressed against its surface. After that, its grape perfume fades and the crystals grow coarser.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 160g)