Passionfruit and Chocolate Cream Lactarts: Fancy Vintage Sodas

Passionfruit and Chocolate Cream Lactarts are sour fancy vintage style sodas using fresh passionfruit syrup and raw cacao chocolate syrup with cinnamon, vanilla and rose water, cream, and gelato, soured with Lactart, and topped with soda water. Both cream lactarts explore how passionfruit and chocolate enhance one another’s flavour and are a celebration of in season passionfruit preserved in a syrup for use in drinks and desserts. I made the Passionfruit Cream Lactart with passionfruit syrup and an accent of chocolate while the Chocolate Cream Lactart uses chocolate syrup with an accent of passionfruit. I garnished the Passionfruit Cream Lactart with half a fresh passionfruit and a sprinkle of sour freeze dried passionfruit powder. I garnished the Chocolate Cream Lactart with a half passionfruit shell filled with pieces of wafer chocolate and a sprinkle of grated chocolate. Each is the opposite of the other flipping the syrup ratio and making the most of the flavour enhancing pairing of passionfruit with chocolate for fun, fancy vintage style soda fountain drinks. Both offer a celebration of Australian passionfruit season.

What is a Cream Lactart?

A Cream Lactart is a sour vintage Victorian era drink using soda syrup, cream and sometimes ice cream, soured with Lactart – a food grade 10% lactic acid solution – and topped with soda water for a foamy, creamy refreshing fancy drink (Hiss 1897: 109-110; O’Neill 2009: 40). Darcy O’Neill (2009: 40) writes in Fix the Pumps that Lactart, a lactic acid formula solution, was known from circa 1881 and Lactart sodas such as Cream Lactarts hit the peak of their popularity circa the early 1900’s. For more on the history of soda fountain recipes including syrups, foaming agents, flavour brighteners, texturisers such as cream, milk, and eggs and a Lactart formula see my post on Pineapple Pistachio Cream Lactart.

Cream Lactart Formula

Emil Hiss (1897: 110) in The standard manual of soda and other beverages provides a Cream Lactart Formula, he writes:

“Cream lactarts are drinks served in 12-ounce glasses with foam, like the “sodas”, using 1 ½ fluidounces of the respective syrup, 1 fluidounce of cream, 1 fluidram of lactart and enough carbonated water, coarse and fine streams, to fill the glass.”

Emil Hiss (1897: 110) in The standard manual of soda and other beverages. G.P. Engelhard: Chicago.

How to  make a Cream lactart: Foamed Ice Cream Soda Method

Cream Lactarts are made by the foamed ice cream soda method where syrup, cream and Lactart are added to a soda glass and then mixed using a fine stream of soda, the glass is then filled with the coarse stream to half way, ice cream added and then foamed with the fine stream to produce a foamy head (Hiss 1897: 19-20, 67). Emil Hiss (1897: 19-20) provides a detailed description of the method for making an ice cream soda such as a Cream Lactart using a foamed method:

“In the first place, put about 1 ½ to 2 fluidounces of syrup into the glass, turn in the fine stream of carbonated water, moving the glass about quickly so that the stream may play upon every portion of the syrup in the glass; then turn in the coarse stream until the glass is more than half full, then turn in the fine stream for a moment so as the  mix the contents of the glass again; now drop in the ice cream, and fill up the glass with the fine stream, turning in enough of the latter so that the layer of foam rises nicely above the glass.”

Emil Hiss (1897: 19) in The standard manual of soda and other beverages. G.P. Engelhard: Chicago.

Inspiration: Passionfruit Soda, flavour pairing passionfruit and chocolate

There were two points of inspiration for the Passionfruit and Chocolate Cream Lactarts:

1. Australian Snow – Passionfruit Soda recipe
2. Passionfruit and chocolate flavour pairing

Inspiration 1: Australian Snow Passionfruit Soda Recipe

I first became interested in creating a passionfruit soda after reading the Australian Snow recipe  in David Embury’s (1948: 298) How to mix plain and fancy drinks. The Australian Snow recipe calls for passionfruit nectar and ice cream, David Embury (1948: 298) says vanilla ice cream works well but that lime ice cream is better, topped with soda water to create a spider. David Embury (1948: 298) provides the following recipe for Australian Snow ‘passion-fruit soda’:

“Blend together in a 14-ounce Collins glass 2 ounces of passion-fruit nectar with an equal quantity of vanilla ice cream (or better still, if available, lime ice cream). Fizz up with a siphon bottle or equivalent (see Fizzes), stirring constantly. When glass is nearly full, add 1 scoop ice cream. Serve with straws.”

David Embury (1948: 298). How to mix plain and fancy drinks. Mud Puddle: New York.

How to make an Australian Snow Passionfruit Soda: Foamed Method

Embury (1948: 293) recommends the reader refer to the section on how to make Fizzes for the method for making the Australian Snow using a soda siphon, he writes of Fizzes:

“The Fizz…should be thoroughly frapped with fine ice…, after which it is strained into a 6- to 8-ounce glass and ‘fizzed’ by adding charged water in a fine stream under pressure. It should be served foaming exactly as the drinks served you at a soda fountain foam.”

David Embury (1948: 293). How to mix plain and fancy drinks. Mud Puddle: New York.

Crossover between soda fountain and saloon versions of the Fizz: Foamed method & soda siphon

What is interesting about this description is that it offers a detailed account of the method for making effervescent Fizzes that was employed both in pharmacies at soda fountains and in saloons using a soda siphon where there is control over mixing of syrups using a fine stream, filling using a course stream and topping for a foam with a fine stream. The crossover between the temperance and saloon version of the Fizz is in the method and technique used to create an effervescent sour refreshing, fizzing drink. The Passionfruit Soda is to be made using the fine stream to mix the syrup and then foamed after the ice cream is added using a similar technique as that used for the Fizz albeit with the additional ingredient of ice cream making it an ice cream soda made usually by the foamed ice cream soda method detailed by Emil Hiss (1897:19) in The standard manual of soda and other beverages.

Inspiration 2: Passionfruit and Chocolate Flavour Pairing

I started looking everywhere for lime ice cream and even thought about making some of my own. But then I remembered that passionfruit is delicious when paired with chocolate see Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg’s The Flavour Bible (Page & Dornenburg 2008: 250) and I realised I already had everything I needed to make a passionfruit soda with an accent of chocolate. Then it occurred to me that reversing the ratio could be an interesting experiment – both drinks taste amazing with a core of their main flavour and an accent of the other. The Passionfruit and Chocolate Cream Lactarts then explore different ratios for pairing passionfruit with chocolate and chocolate with passionfruit in a compound syrup – each to enhance the other in a fancy vintage style sour soda fountain drink.

How are the Passionfruit and Chocolate Cream Lactarts different?

Passionfruit and Chocolate Cream Lactarts are fancy sour vintage style sodas that explore the flavour enhancing properties of combining passionfruit with chocolate. There are two variations of compound syrups here – a base of passionfruit with an accent of chocolate and a base of chocolate with an accent of passionfruit. I have created the Passionfruit and Chocolate Cream Lactarts using the Cream Lactart formula. I made both sodas by the traditional foamed ice cream soda method. I have added my own fancy presentation with addition of vanilla and chocolate gelato and an elaborate passionfruit and chocolate garnish finished with sour freeze dried passionfruit powder and freshly grated chocolate. Passionfruit and Chocolate Cream Lactarts offer a celebration of in season passionfruit enhanced with chocolate for a fancy style vintage soda fountain drink that makes the most of the season by using fresh passionfruit preserved in a syrup.

Fresh in season passionfruit syrup

I made passionfruit syrup from fresh in season passionfruit and demerara sugar with a small amount of citric acid to brighten the flavour. The recipe for making passionfruit syrup is based on the Strawberry Syrup recipe of Emil Hiss (1897: 88) in The standard manual of soda and other beverages. The whole passionfruit pulp is cold process macerated with demerara sugar, a little water, and a pinch of citric acid. After macerating overnight in the fridge, strain syrup through a fine mesh sieve, decant into a clean glass container, and refrigerate. Preserving fresh in season passionfruit in sugar syrup makes the most of the season and allows for continued use in in sodas and other drinks, cocktails, and desserts. You can store passionfruit syrup for up to 2 weeks in the fridge.

Raw cacao chocolate syrup with cinnamon, vanilla and rose water

The chocolate syrup recipe developed here is based on that provided by Emil Hiss (1897: 69) in The standard manual of soda and other beverages and enhances raw cacao with the addition of vanilla essence, cinnamon and rose water, with a syrup base of demerara or panela sugar with hot water. Demerara sugar gives a rich molasses flavour while panela sugar offers a caramel note. Pharmacists in the Victorian era created chocolate soda syrup recipes with flavour enhancing ingredients such as cinnamon, vanilla and rosewater, along with others such as nutmeg, orange, orris and even catnip (Hiss 1897: 69). I depart from the original recipe by adding a small pinch of Xanthan to stabilise the syrup and stop it separating. I am grateful to Dave Arnold (2014) for this tip he uses in making nut syrups in Liquid Intelligence.

Compound Syrups

The Passionfruit and Chocolate Cream Lactarts make use of two compound syrups (syrups that combine 2 or more syrups within their formula):

1. Passionfruit Cream Lactart: Passionfruit syrup (1 oz.) with chocolate syrup accent (1/2 oz.)
2. Chocolate Cream Lactart: Chocolate syrup (1 oz.) with passionfruit syrup accent (1/2 oz.)

Vanilla and chocolate gelato

Passionfruit and chocolate cream lactarts have a scoop of vanilla gelato in the passionfruit base with an accent of chocolate and chocolate gelato in the chocolate base with an accent of passionfruit. The  use of gelato adds an extra fancy element to the Cream Lactart formula with creamy vanilla gelato for the passionfruit soda and rich chocolate gelato for the chocolate soda. Australian Snow calls for either vanilla ice cream or lime ice cream – I have used vanilla gelato with the Passionfruit Cream Lactart and chocolate gelato with the Chocolate Cream Lactart. While lime is another interesting pairing for passionfruit in this flavour experiment, I concentrated on passionfruit and chocolate.

Organic cream

I have used fresh organic cream in the passionfruit and chocolate lactarts. The Australian Snow recipe used for inspiration does not use Lactart or cream, being more like a spider with simply syrup, ice cream and soda water, but I have adapted the recipe for use as a Cream Lactart to create a fancy sour style drink. Passionfruit and chocolate both have an affinity for pairing with cream and cream adds a smooth, rich, luscious mouthfeel to this fancy sour soda drink.

Homemade Lactart 10% lactic acid solution

Homemade lactic acid solution is easy to make using a small increment scale. I made a small 2 oz. batch and stored this in a glass bitters bottle with a dropper top. For more on the Lactart formula and tips on how to make acid solutions at home for use in drinks and cocktails see my post on Pineapple Pistachio Cream Lactart. The key text I referred to for making acid solutions is Dave Arnold’s (2014) extremely useful Liquid Intelligence. As an alternative you can use ready made Lactart from the Extinct Chemical Co. if you do not wish to make your own.

Wonderfoam: Quillaja Saponaria Extract – Soda Foam

Wonderfoam is modern concentrated plant based product made the bark of the Soap Bark or Quillaja Saponaria tree. Soap Bark was a common ingredient in Victorian era soda foam recipes to provide a foamy texture to soda drinks (see Hiss 1897: 34-35). A small amount of Wonderfoam offers texture to drinks and cocktails. I have used Wonderfoam as an alternative to egg white foam – for more on how to make egg white foam and other soda foam ingredients see my post on Pineapple Pistachio Cream Lactart.

Soda water from an iSi soda siphon

I do not have access to a vintage soda fountain to make sodas, but I instead used a modern iSi siphon to make carbonated water used to mix and foam the passionfruit and chocolate cream lactarts. For more on tips for making bubbly soda water see my post on Pineapple Pistachio Cream Lactart – the most important being to use chilled water to make carbonated water – the colder the water the better the bubbles.

How to make the Passionfruit and Chocolate Cream Lactarts: foamed ice cream soda method

I have made the Passionfruit and Chocolate Cream Lactarts by the foamed ice cream soda method detailed by Emil Hiss (1897: 19) in The standard manual of soda and other beverages. I followed the steps below to make the Passionfruit and Chocolate Cream Lactarts adapted from Hiss (1897: 19).

• Prepare a footed soda glass: with a half passionfruit or passionfruit shell filled with chocolate wafer pieces counterbalanced on the side of the glass with a bamboo cocktail pick
• Combine syrup, cream, Lactart, Wonderfoam: in a small glass jug
• Pour cream and syrup mixture: into soda glass
• Mix cream and syrup with a fine stream of soda water: from a siphon using gentle pressure on the siphon lever
• Fill glass half full using a coarse stream of soda water: using a firmer pressure on the siphon lever
• Add gelato: vanilla or chocolate to the soda glass
• Foam using a controlled fine stream of soda water: with gentle pressure on the siphon lever
• Garnish: with sour passionfruit powder or grated chocolate

Making the Passionfruit Cream Lactart

Making the Chocolate Cream Lactart

Styling & Photographing the Passionfruit and Chocolate Cream Lactarts

I have served the Passionfruit and Chocolate Cream Lactarts sodas in Libby vintage footed soda glasses with a metal reusable straw and long handled soda spoon. Garnishing the Passionfruit and Chocolate Cream Lactarts involves a fresh passionfruit and sour passionfruit sprinkles for the Passionfruit Cream Lactart and wafer chocolate in a passionfruit shell with freshly grated chocolate for the Chocolate Cream Lactart. I have held the passionfruit shells in place with a long bamboo skewer balanced against the inside of the soda glass to counterweight the shells and their contents. Freeze dried passionfruit powder is super sour and yellow offering a nice contrast with sweet creamy vanilla gelato while a wafer milk chocolate adds a crunchy textural contrast with creamy rich chocolate gelato.

I photographed both drinks on a pink background which contrasts beautifully with the orange of the passionfruit and makes the rich brown of the chocolate look enticing. The Passionfruit and Chocolate Cream Lactarts borrow elements of fancy styling and presentation in their elaborate garnishes from other soda fountain drinks for a unique special sour refreshing drinks that celebrate in season passionfruit as the central core or as a flavour enhancing accent. Both drinks use fresh in season passionfruit  preserved in a sugar syrup thus making the most of and extending the passionfruit season.