Cafe Parfait Alexandria (Coffee Mousse) Recipe from 1913
Here’s another interesting recipe from the book Ultra Select Dishes for Afternoon Teas, published in 1913. It’s a collection of fancy recipes from high end hotels, and this particular recipe comes from Charles A. Frey, chef at the Hotel Alexandria in Los Angeles, California. It’s basically a coffee mousse dessert, simple but very delicious.
Original Recipe
CAFE PARFAIT ALEXANDRIA
Make a very strong coffee and pour over one pound of cube sugar. Dissolve the same over a slow fire, but do not let it boil, until it reaches twenty-eight degrees.
Beat eight yolks of eggs in a kettle which is placed in a hot water bath, then add the above coffee syrup little by little. Remove the kettle with its contents out of the hot water in shaved ice. Keep on beating same until very cold, then add one pint of whipped cream; mix well, then place the same in cold parfait glasses and place in freezer until frozen solid serving in same glasses.
Recipe Card
Café Parfait Alexandria
Print Recipe
Equipment
- Wisk (electric one might be easier)
- Kettle (could sub a small pot instead)
- Hot water bath (aka double broiler)
- Parfait glasses
- Freezer
Ingredients
- 1 pound cube sugar
- 8 yolks of eggs
- Strong coffee enough to make a syrup
- 1 pint whipped cream
- shaved ice
Instructions
- Make a very strong coffee and pour it over 1 pound of cube sugar.
- Dissolve the sugar over a slow fire, but do not let it boil, until it reaches 28 degrees (82.4 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Beat the 8 yolks of eggs in a kettle placed in a hot water bath.
- Gradually add the coffee syrup to the beaten egg yolks, little by little.
- Remove the kettle with its contents from the hot water and place it in shaved ice.
- Continue beating the mixture until it becomes very cold.
- Add 1 pint of whipped cream and mix well.
- Place the mixture in cold parfait glasses and freeze until frozen solid.
- Serve in the same glasses.
Recipe Notes
- Hotel Alexandria has a Wikipedia entry here, with the history of the building and owners, etc. It’s still around but it seems to only be used for movies and private events nowadays rather than a proper hotel.
- Chef Charles A. Frey’s bio from the book is as follows: “Mr. Frey was first at the Hotel von Konig von England in Munster; later at the Dom Hotel, Cologne; Continental Hotel, Paris; with the North German Lloyd and Hamburg-American Steamship Lines and Hotel Bellvue-Stratford, Philadelphia.”
- Here’s a good article about using eggs in pastries and desserts, including a section explaining what happens when you whip egg yolks with sugar and mix it with cream.
- “Parfait glasses” could really be anything, but I think probably they used the short stubby versions and not the taller ones we tend to use for milkshakes nowadays. An alternative could be small coffee cups, if you don’t have parfait glasses handy.
