Carefully peel a cantaloupe or rock melon. Cut off the top and scoop out the seeds. Fill the cavity with a raspberry jelly and replace the top. When the jelly has set, coat the whole melon with fresh cream cheese forked up to look like frosted icing - add whipped cream to make the cheese softer and easier to spread. Slice to serve.
Source: Recipes tested by time... Centenary Cookery Book from 1840 (The Historical Society of Woodville, 1980), p.42.
Edit 27/4/2014: I made this, but decided to go for more colour than white frosting. So, giant melon mock strawberry!
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Edit 27/4/2014: I made this, but decided to go for more colour than white frosting. So, giant melon mock strawberry!
I cannot believe that this recipe was from 1840 because I made the exact same recipe (ok, there was canned fruit cocktail, too) in my 1960s copy of The Joys of Jell-O! http://dinnerisserved1972.com/2011/09/28/23-barbecued-chuck-roast-frosty-melon-the-end-of-the-x-files/
ReplyDeleteThanks, Emily! I think the cookbook is big-noting itself a bit -- I think Woodville (a suburb of South Australia) was founded in 1840 (the state was founded in 1836), and then they've just chucked in whatever the hell recipes they've liked in the local community. Nice to see the origins of this one - I wondered about the 'Ayr': there's an Ayr in Queensland which the Internet tells me produces 1/3 of Australia's melons. Unless there's some freaky Scottish Ayr melon connection...?! I really want to make this, and now I've seen your tips, I am going to give it a go. Brilliant!
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