19th century copper ice-cream bombe mould
19th century
Princess Surprise Bombe
The original recipe for this impressive Victorian ice pudding comes from Mrs Marshall’s book Fancy Ices (1894). This pudding is similar to the baked Alaska, an ice pudding that was said to have been invented in New York in 1867 by Charles Ranhofer. A popular claim is that it was created to celebrate the United States’ purchase of Alaska from the Russians. The recipe for baked Alaska is, however, not based on this one by Mrs Marshall, so we may assume that it represents a variety of ice pudding that was popular throughout the Victorian period.
Princess Marie d’Orléans Surprise Bomb
Prepare and freeze a white coffee ice (Book of Ices, page 13), and when frozen put it into a plain bomb mould with a pipe, and place the shape into the cave to freeze for two and a half hours; remove the lid and pipe, and fill the hollow space with pieces of fresh sponge cake steeped in Marshall’s Maraschino Syrup; then turn out the ice on to a layer of sponge cake that is placed on the centre of the dish, and by means of a forcing bag with a large rose pipe cover it well in an ornamental style with a stiff meringue mixture prepared as below, and sprinkle it with Marshall’s Icing Sugar. Stand the dish containing the bomb in a tin with water, and place it in a quick hot oven to brown the outside of the meringue, or glaze it with a salamander, and serve it immediately with a purée of peaches (prepared as below) round the base.
Agnes B. Marshall, Fancy Ices, 1894
This particular ice-cream pudding was often made in a copper bombe mould with a pipe in the middle that would leave a cavity to fill with other ice cream, or in this case, maraschino-soaked sponge cake. The ice cream surrounding the soaked cake is white coffee ice, made by infusing coffee beans in simmering cream. To serve, the pudding is placed on a disc of sponge cake – not soaked – of the same size and a meringue topping is added, which is then burnt using a blowtorch, originally a salamander.