It's buoyancy, like Sponge Cakes, came from egg whites and according to one book the Italian word spumante meant "frothing" (not to be confused with the sparkling wine or Spumoni ice cream). Confusedly, Spongati was also the name for "Italian Christmas Cakes" from Jarrin's 1820 book, see at end of post.
The following are a few recipes and comments from 1846 to 1899. The egg whites could be whipped into a meringue or simply "broken up with a fork." Other ice cream recipes occasionally used egg whites instead of yolks (cooked custard then frozen) but did not use any variant of the name Spongati.
Francatelli 1846
1460. LA SPONGADA DI ROMA 1846
INGREDIENTS —One pint of clarified syrup, six ounces of dissolved
chocolate, a table-spoonful of vanilla sugar, an equal quantity of cinnamon
sugar, four ounces of shred pistachios, two ounces of Diavolini, or ginger
comfits, six whites of eggs.
Mix the syrup, dissolved chocolate, the whites of eggs (previously
broken up with a fork in a basin), the vanilla and cinnamon sugars; and, when
these are well mixed together, let them be strained through a sieve, and poured
into the freezing-pot, previously set with ice, &c., in a pail for the
purpose. Next, let the freezing pot be worked or twirled round with the left
hand, while the spongada is being at the same time worked with a spatula held
in the right hand, bearing in mind that this method of working the ice, while
it is being frozen, is requisite, in order to facilitate the addition of the
fixed air, necessary to promote its lightness, and by means of which its volume
is thus increased twofold. When the spongada has become firm, and at the same
time light, the ginger comfits and the shred pistachios should be lightly mixed
in with it; and immediately after, let the spongada be moulded in any kind of
iced-pudding-mould; and after it has been properly immersed in rough ice
prepared in the usual way, for about three hours, let the spongada be carefully
turned out upon a napkin and served for a second-course remove.
1462. LA SPONGADA DIVENEZZA 1846
FIRST, line a spherical iced-pudding-mould with some apricotwater-ice,
about the third of an inch thick; and then fill the cavity with the following
preparation:—
First, scald and then peel eight ounces of pistachios and one ounce of
bitter almonds, and pound these into a smooth paste in a mortar, adding, by
degrees, a gill of water; and when thoroughly pounded, rub the produce through a
tammy. Next, let the purée of pistachios be placed in a basin with a pint of
syrup, a table-spoonful of orange-flowerwater, ditto of spinach-green, and six
whites of eggs that have been pressed through a tammy for the purpose; mix well
together, and poured the preparation into a ready-prepared freezing-pot,
proceed immediately to work it as directed in the former cases; and when
finished, use it to fill the bombe-shell; which, being completed, and the mould
being effectually closed, must be immersed in ice for three hours previously to
its being turned out for table. [Francatelli]
Fuller Freezing Machine and 1851 Manual with recipes
Spongato
Spongato
No. 27. Punch Water Ice, alia Romana, or Spongato.
To make this Granite Ice, it must not be too much frozen for drinking,
put rum, or any wine or liqueur you choose, to the same proportion as lemonade,
No. 3, To make it Spongato you must freeze it more and add meringue paste. With
twelve ounces of the juice of every fruit you may make liquid Ice for drinking,
add rum at discretion. [Fuller]
No. 7. For Ice Spongati
When you make Ice Spongati you must not fill the machine more than two
thirds, and when it is almost frozen put in meringue paste, and stir and work
it well. [Fuller]
1899
The spongada is a very light form of whipped cream ice, common in
Italy, but seldom, if ever, seen in this country, save when it is occasionally
used to fill up a mould lined with ordinary cream or water ice. Besides these there is the parfait, which is very much the same as the spongada, only frozen a little more stiffly, the latter being more like frozen froth, whence its other name of spumante or foaming. ...
The old-fashioned freezing pot is generally used in the preparation of
this form of ice. The method of its making is as follows: Having prepared the
mixture, it is strained into the charged freezer, which is then covered down
and turned sharply and steadily for a few minutes till it begins to thicken;
now take off the cover, and give it another turn or two uncovered, easing the
ice as it forms, with a spatula, from the bottom and sides of the pot; as soon
as it thickens stop turning, and with the spatula work it well up from the
bottom, till the cream is quite soft and light and fully double its original
bulk, when you add a little flavouring and sweetening syrup, if necessary, and
serve at once, either in glasses, or with a moulded ice, as preferred.
The distinctive mark of this kind of ice is its frothy lightness, whence comes its name, and also the appellation of spumante, or frothing, given to it in Italy, where it is mostly served.
Needless to say, it is susceptible of almost endless variety, according to the use to which it is to be put. It is particularly delicious if shred almonds are added to it lightly, especially when used in conjunction with a cream or water ice set in a square or oval border mould. It is occasionally used as a filling for bombes or melon shapes.
The distinctive mark of this kind of ice is its frothy lightness, whence comes its name, and also the appellation of spumante, or frothing, given to it in Italy, where it is mostly served.
Needless to say, it is susceptible of almost endless variety, according to the use to which it is to be put. It is particularly delicious if shred almonds are added to it lightly, especially when used in conjunction with a cream or water ice set in a square or oval border mould. It is occasionally used as a filling for bombes or melon shapes.
Spongada alia Romana.—Dissolve 6oz. of fine vanilla chocolate and put
it into a basin with a pint of good sugar syrup, the whites of six eggs
(lightly broken up, but not beaten, with a fork), and a tablespoonful each of
vanilla and cinnamon sugars; mix these all well together, then strain the whole
through a sieve into the freezing pot, and work it as described above till it
has increased to nearly twice the original bulk, when you dish it and stand it
in the ice cave for two or three hours till wanted.
Spongada alia Toledo.—Pound 8oz. of sweet and 2oz. of bitter almonds
with half a pint of water, and wring it through a tammy to express all the
juice possible; there should be half a pint of this (known in kitchen parlance
as "milk of almonds "), then mix this milk with a pint of strong sugar
syrup, the whites of six eggs, and a wineglassful of kirsch; strain it into the
freezing pot, and work as in the preceding recipe, to twice its original bulk,
when you add to it 6oz. of roughly chopped burnt almonds and half a pint of
whipped cream, and finish freezing as before. Another way is to make a puree of
the same quantity of almonds by pounding them when blanched, with about a gill
of water, and rubbing this all through a sieve or tammy; you now mix this with
the egg whites and the syrup as before, flavouring it with a good tablespoonful
of orange flower water, and colouring it to a pretty pistachio green with
vegetable colouring; finish as in the preceding recipe, adding to it some
blanched and chopped pistachios. These make a delicious centre for any sort of
ice; for instance, fill a strawberry water, ice-lined plain or egg-shaped mould
with the spongada alia Toledo, close it up and freeze for three hours or so; or
make the spongada by the second almond recipe, using blanched pistachios
instead of the sweet almonds; line a melon or any nice shaped mould an inch
thick with cherry or raspberry water ice, and fill up with the green spongada,
and finish as before.
Coffee Spongada.—Have ready half a pint of black Mocha coffee, in which
you have dissolved 4oz. to 8oz. of sugar (this is a matter of taste), and when
cold stir into it a gill of unwhipped egg whites and a quart of stiffly whipped
cream, run it through a sieve into the freezer, and proceed as directed above,
adding just before serving a little more sugar syrup and a glassful of cognac,
and finish off.
Apricot Spongada. — Peel and stone sufficient apricots to produce, when
sieved, one and a quarter pints of pulp, add to it the whites of six unwhipped
eggs, and one and a quarter pints of sugar syrup, boiled to 38 degrees, strain
it all into the freezing pot, and add just at the last a good liqueur-glassful
of noyeau and sugar syrup, or simply use noyeau syrup. Finish off in the usual
way.
Any very finely sieved fruit pulp can be used in this way.
Maraschino Spongada.—Dissolve 10oz. of sugar in a quart of whipped
cream, and when quite melted stir to it the whites of enough eggs to fill a
gill, and half a pint of maraschino; strain into the freezer and proceed as
before, adding a little more maraschino at the last. Any liqueur can be used in
this way; curacoa, for instance, is very good thus, but the cream should
be faintly tinted with saffron or apricot yellow.
Strawberry Spongada.—Stalk a quart of strawberries, and sprinkle them
well with 3oz. or 4oz. of caster sugar, then crush them through a fine sieve.
Have ready a syrup made by boiling together 4oz. of loaf sugar and half a pint
of water for twenty minutes, and beat this into the strawberry pulp for five
minutes, working it over ice; then stir in quickly and lightly the frothed
whites of four eggs and a pint of stiffly whipped cream, and freeze in the
usual way. This is not, strictly speaking, a spongada, though it goes by that
name.
As a matter of fact, a clever cook can prepare these frothy ices with
any flavourings or purees to taste, but they are not altogether easy to make
successfully, and take too much time and trouble for the average cook; so it is
unnecessary to multiply recipes for spongadas in this book, which is primarily
intended for the average household, and not for one which can afford to keep a
first-rate chef with many assistants ; while, if the cook likes, and can
succeed in these ices, the above hints will be sufficient to enable her to vary
their nature indefinitely. [Queen]
Spongati - "Italian Christmas Cakes"
"Spongata - An Italian Minced Pie in Georgian London" from Ivan Day's blog, included a picture of a Spongate seller from 1691 and recipes from Jarrin’s 1820 The
Italian Confectioner
HEREEgg whites in ice creams
Coffee Ice. [only 1 out of 19 Abbot recipes had egg whites]
To four whites of eggs, put
three ounces of sugar, three quarters of a pint of cream, and an ounce of whole
coffee; boil it all till it thickens, then pass it through a sieve for
freezing.
Abbot, Robert. The Housekeeper’s
Valuable Present. London: c1790
Recipes from
Beaty-Pownall, S. The “Queen”
Cookery Books. No. 2 London: 1899, 1902
Francatelli, Charles Elme. The
Modern Cook. 11th London: 1846
Fuller, William. A Manual:
containing original recipes for preparing ices … Fuller’s Neopolitan Freezing
Machine. London: 1851
Print: John Bull and his family at an ice cafe. 1815 (Newcastle University)
Print: John Bull and his family at an ice cafe. 1815 (Newcastle University)
©2019 Patricia Bixler Reber
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