Frozen Desserts

I was a brand new bride who couldn’t cook when I discovered frozen desserts.

I’d been working as a free-lance artist and full-time clerk in the home economics department office at Cornell University during the ‘50s while my husband was stationed at an Air Force base nearby.

One of my jobs was to illustrate booklets of recipes and instructions for student use. One day, there were the frozen desserts. Dozens of recipes for them. My, they sounded good. Frozen Chocolate Wafer Delight. Frosty Strawberry Roll. Do-Ahead Lemon Freeze.

A dessert you could do ahead and forget until you needed it? A dessert that didn’t give you the heebie-jeebies whenever you entertained? A dessert that didn’t cost an arm and leg on a meager airman family’s budget? A dessert you didn’t have to cook?

I was in seventh heaven.

In those days refrigerators came with only enough space on top to cram two ice cube trays, but that didn’t stop the freezer dessert craze. Everyone was doing freezer desserts. Even those who, like me, couldn’t cook. Food companies capitalizing on the craze printed freezer dessert recipes on packages of their products. Homemakers, 66.1% of the female population who stayed home in 1950, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, were exchanging recipes at kaffeeklatsches and club meetings. Newspapers were featuring them left and right.

I certainly took to freezer desserts. I not only illustrated them with the extra flourish they suggested, but made them when I got home, too. Our tiny freezer compartment was jam-packed not with ice cubes and the obligatory pound of hamburger meat, which was about the only thing I knew how to cook, but with Lemon Freeze. Joyful Raspberry Royale. Things like that.

Well, here I am again, face to face with freezer desserts, after they’d been put in deep-freeze for a couple of decades out of sheer, shameless neglect. They were dropped like a hot potato. Passed over for the newest craze--31 flavors, I think it was. Freezer desserts simply drifted away to the big icicle in the sky never to return--until now.

Now everybody’s doing them again. Lemon Freeze is back with a vengeance. So is Chocolate Wafer Delight.

They’re back because, for some strange and hard-to-figure reason, the ‘50s are back in style. Besides, freezer desserts work. They work very well for the work-away-from-home bunch, who today have reversed the stay-at-home population of the ‘50s. In 1985 54.4% of workers were women, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This bunch, especially those who entertain spontaneously but don’t want to bother cooking at the last minute, will love them. You just do them a day, week, or month in advance and you have a dessert to bring out any time. Best of all, you still can be a no-cook cook and get away with it.

We’ve dug out a few favorite ‘50s frozen desserts for your amusement and use. They’re good and pretty, too.

The Old-Fashioned Wafer Roll made with wafers and pudding mix is an ideal freezer dessert you can make and forget until needed. A similar recipe, by the way, is printed on a chocolate wafer box today. The Nabisco people featured a similar dessert recipe in the ‘50s, and it’s still printed on the company’s box of chocolate wafers. The Nabisco people won’t swear to it, but they think it was they who developed the first recipe for the roll because the dessert is associated only with chocolate wafers, and Nabisco was one of the few making them at the time. The roll is pretty when cut to reveal the striped pattern, created by stacking the cookies with cream and cutting them horizontally. The roll is frozen, but the moisture of the cookies keeps the texture soft enough to put a fork through it easily. Using dessert whip won’t work as well as whipped cream for reasons unknown to the Nabisco people.

Lemon Crumb Dessert

Then we have another ‘50s favorite--Lemon Freeze, a frozen lemon crumb dessert made with a crumbled homemade cookie crust and lemon custard filling. It was originally a refrigerator dessert called lemon fluff and also was one of those desserts printed on a wafer cookie box for years.

We have also added variations on freezer dessert themes, with recipes such as cantaloupe shells filled with cantaloupe cream, which you can slice as you would fresh cantaloupe into any size desired, from a tiny sliver to a big, fat wedge. It makes a lovely surprise dessert and a refreshing one, too--and it’s easy to make.

Another variation on a theme is a frozen dessert made with molded ice cream stars, which also decorate a plate. Any size gelatin molds can be used. The raspberry puree piped on the plate to resemble shooting stars is part of the dessert, to be dished up as the sauce for the stars. It’s slightly crazy but fun. That’s an easy one, too.

We’ve developed a recipe for an Alaska made with cream-filled chocolate cookies because they are as popular today as they were in the ‘50s. These individual Alaskas can be assembled short of adding the meringue topping, so you’ll have a ready supply any time you need it. You add the meringue topping and brown the peaks in the oven when you’re ready to serve the dessert. It’s little enough last-minute work for the reward of a charming, practically no-work dessert.

Children will love frozen Chocolate Banana Pops, which they can help make. The pops can be dressed up for a party by inserting the dowel end in a ceramic flower pot or large stemmed glass filled with jelly beans or Styrofoam. Keep them on hand in the freezer for a healthy (thin covering of chocolate, please) afternoon snack.

What an elegant finale the Frozen Zabaglione Cups would make to a fancy dinner party. You freeze the dessert in demitasse cups to bring out for a last-minute primping with dollops of whipped cream and a dusting of powdered coffee. Because zabaglione is made with egg yolks, we advise caution for those who have to restrict eggs in the diet.

If you like frozen pies, a chocolate pie recipe shared by Donna Deane, our staff home economist who tests the recipes, will charm you. All you need are three ingredients--whipped cream, canned chocolate sauce and vanilla extract--to fill this pie. And it’s delicious.

“We used to serve it every Sunday to guests from Chicago, who came to our resort in Wisconsin every summer,” Deane said.

CANTALOUPE FREEZE

3 small cantaloupe halves

1 cup milk

20 marshmallows, cut into small pieces

1 cup whipping cream

Mint sprigs

Strawberries

Remove cantaloupe seeds and scoop out pulp, leaving smooth shells. Put cantaloupe pulp from 2 melon halves in blender and puree. Reserve remaining pulp for other use. There should be about 2 1/4 cups puree. Set aside.

Heat milk. Add marshmallows and stir to dissolve. Cool. Meanwhile, whip cream. Fold into marshmallow mixture. Fold in cantaloupe puree until well blended.

Pour back into melon shells, filling to rim and smoothing top with spatula. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze overnight until firm. When ready to serve, let melons stand at room temperature just long enough to soften enough to cut into wedges. Place each wedge on plate. Garnish with mint sprig and one or two strawberries. Makes 6 servings.

OLD-FASHIONED WAFER ROLL

1 1/2 cups half and half or milk

1 (3 1/2-ounce) package instant lemon-pudding mix

38 chocolate wafers

1/2 cup whipping cream, whipped

Chocolate shavings or curls, optional

Pour half and half into bowl. Add pudding mix and beat as directed. Spread wafers with pudding mixture, then stack in groups of 6 or 8.

Carefully arrange stacks of wafers to form long roll on piece of foil. Wrap foil around roll and freeze about 3 hours.

Just before serving, remove foil from roll and place on serving plate. Spread whipped cream over top, sides and ends of roll. Sprinkle with shaved chocolate or chocolate curls. To serve, slice diagonally. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

CHOCOLATE COOKIE ALASKAS

8 to 10 cream-filled chocolate cookies

1 pint white chocolate ice cream

2 egg whites

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/4 cup sugar

Hot fudge sauce

Place cookies on baking sheet. Place 2-inch scoop ice cream on each center of each cookie slice. Freeze until hard.

Just before serving, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Add sugar gradually, beating until sugar is thoroughly dissolved and meringue stands in very stiff peaks.

Quickly spread meringue over ice cream to edges of cookie base, forming into peaks. Bake at 450 degrees 3 to 4 minutes or until delicately browned. Drizzle fudge sauce in erratic pattern over meringue. Serve at once. Makes 8 to 10 Alaskas.

‘50s FROZEN LEMON CRUMB DESSERT

1/2 cup flour

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1/4 cup finely chopped pecans

2 eggs, separated

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

1/3 cup lemon juice

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

Mix flour, brown sugar, butter and nuts until crumbly. Spread on foil-lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees 10 minutes or until golden. Cool. Break apart into crumbs.

Line 9x5-inch loaf pan or ice cube tray with foil, leaving 1 1/2-inch collar around edges. Sprinkle 2/3 of crumb mixture in bottom.

Beat egg yolks until thick and lemon colored. Blend in sweetened condensed milk. Add lemon peel and lemon juice. Stir until thickened.

Beat egg whites until foamy. Gradually add granulated sugar. Continue beating until stiff peaks form. Fold into lemon mixture. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Sprinkle remaining crumbs on top. Freeze until firm.

When frozen, cover with piece of foil size of pan and collar. To seal, press air out from center toward sides, fold edges up and over, then press together. Lift from pan and return to freezer until ready to slice. Makes 6 servings.

FROZEN STARS

Strawberry ice cream or flavor of choice

3 macaroons, crushed or crumbled finely

Raspberry Sauce

Soften ice cream. Spoon into greased star-shaped molds (3 to 4 inches in diameter) or any other shape molds. Sprinkle with crushed macaroons and pat gently onto molds. Freeze until firm or overnight.

Unmold, crumb sides down, randomly from center to rim of extra-large serving platter or tray.

When ready to serve, pipe Raspberry Sauce in jagged lines leading from stars, to resemble shooting stars on platter. Serve with any remaining Raspberry Sauce. Serve immediately. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Raspberry Sauce

1 (10-ounce) package raspberries, thawed

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons raspberry liqueur, optional

Puree raspberries in blender and strain to remove seeds. Combine pureed raspberries and sugar in saucepan. Simmer until very thick. Add liqueur and simmer 5 minutes. Cool. Use to pipe through pastry bag using fine round tube.

CHOCOLATE BANANA POPS

6 firm ripe bananas

Chocolate Topping

Chocolate or colored sprinkles, chopped butterscotch pieces, shredded coconut or chopped nuts

Peel and cut bananas into 2 equal halves horizontally. Impale on wooden skewers at cut ends. Place in freezer 1 hour or until thoroughly chilled. (Coating will run off if fruit is at room temperature.)

Remove bananas from freezer a few at a time. Dip and roll bananas in melted Chocolate Topping, making sure all banana surfaces are completely covered. Shake or twirl banana before removing from pan to remove excess coating.

While coating is still soft, roll covered banana in chocolate sprinkles, butterscotch pieces, shredded coconut or chopped nuts. If coating becomes too hard to hold decorations, apply a little warm coating to back of candy and hold in place until it sets. When covering sets, place pops on squares of foil, then wrap securely and store in freezer until ready to eat. Makes 12 pops.

Chocolate Topping

1 (12-ounce) package semisweet chocolate pieces

6 tablespoons oil

Melt chocolate in top of double boiler over hot, not boiling, water. Add oil and stir until smooth. Keep warm over hot water while dipping. Makes enough topping to cover 12 pops.

FROZEN ZABAGLIONE CUPS

8 egg yolks

2 tablespoons sugar

Sweet Marsala wine

Whipped cream

Ground coffee

Mix egg yolks with sugar and wine in top of double boiler. Beat lightly with whisk. Place over hot, not boiling, water and beat constantly until thick and creamy, about 10 to 15 minutes. Occasionally lift pan of Zabaglione away from hot water so it does not cook too rapidly.

When creamy and fluffy, remove from heat and continue to beat 1 or 2 minutes to cool slightly.

Turn into 4 demitasse cups, filling 3/4 full, or into 2 demitasse cups tied near rim with 1-inch wax-paper collars, filling to top of collar. Freeze.

When ready to serve, dollop or garnish as desired with whipped cream and sprinkle with ground or instant coffee. Makes 6 servings.

FROZEN WISCONSIN CHOCOLATE PIE

2 cups whipping cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup canned chocolate sauce

Meringue Crust

Whip cream with vanilla. Fold in chocolate sauce. Pour into Meringue Crust, forming swirls with back of metal spoon or smoothing surface. Freeze until firm. Let stand 5 minutes at room temperature before cutting. Makes 1 (9-inch) pie.

Meringue Crust

4 egg whites

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Butter or margarine

Beat egg whites until stiff and glossy. Do not under-beat. Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Add lemon juice. Generously butter 9-inch pie plate. Spoon meringue mixture into pan and use tablespoon to push up mixture, forming sides and bottom of crust. Bake at 200 degrees 2 hours. Cool.

Food styling by MINNIE BERNARDINO and DONNA DEANE / Los Angeles Times

China by Angela Cummings