Hawaii Ice Cakes
Ice-cake was an inexpensive way that the local people made a frozen-treat that would not break the bank so to speak (make you poor). As many other frozen items it is quite similar to a typical Popsicle which is thrown in the freezer to become or solid or even the similar in appearance Italian Ice. Both of these which also were favorites of the time, but nothing was like a Hawaii Ice Cake. Many will remember being able to accessibly get Ice cakes that were served up from their elementary schools. Sometimes after school parents would use it as a reward without a second thought do to its affordability and convenience to purchase. It could be found at Crackseed shops, Mom and pop stores, and was sold from the Snack Truck which also had crack seed that would be driving around town to eager youngsters and adults alike. Taking a wooden paddle shaped spoon there would be layer by layer scraping away the ice shavings and eating it as it melts off the heat of the tongue. It is great for Keiki (children) and have many adults thinking of their own good ol days experiences from when they would eat plenty of ice cakes back in the day. It was also a favorite treat to bring to the beach and was called "Da Beach Treat" when people would go and buy them from mom and pop stores and take them to the beach nearby. From Soda and Syrup Ice Cream was seen as an expensive treat, so the less expensive option was the ice cake. Ice Cream was expensive at both the store and the soda fountain in the 50s, but little did people know that the following for Ice cakes would rival that of ice cream in the long run of a selection of island desserts. Many soda flavors were used for home made ice cakes that were sometimes called "home kine concoctions" including: cola ice cake, chocolate ice cake, and green river ice cake. Ice Cakes were not too far from Guri Guri Ice Cream as their recipe also used carbonated lemon lime soda, sweet condensed milk, and choice syrup. That is where the similarities end because the process ends there and creates a ice cold block like appearance and shave ice consistency to the ice cake. It would be joked as a flavored ice that was the portable version of shaved ice. Ice Cake with Sour Kine Powder Malolo Syrup was the main brand that would be known for their ice cake syrups as many would recommend them. When making ice cakes at home began many would use ice cube trays if they wanted ice cube shaped mini ice cakes (aka. Ice cake cubes). If there was left over syrup or powder or even crack seed it would be added to the mixture itself at the bottom and sprinkled powder on top after it came out of the freezer. This tasty tip would be passed on from their Kupuna (eldar). Kupuna (eldar) who were seasoned ice cake eaters would eat their ice cakes with crack seed or the addition of available crack seed sour and sweet powders. This would have various sorts of powders which are different and definitely flavored of sours and sweets that compliment the ice cakes. There was no recipe to follow with most crack seed recipes being under lock and key the different crack seed was thrown in to just add some extra flavor. Home-made Crackseed Ice Cakes The most common crack seed to be thrown in would be : Li Hing Mui, Licorice Plum, Lemon Ginger, Mango, Apricot, and Cherry. Other varieties of crack seeds would be added as well as dried fruits from the crack seed stores. Crack seed, Crack Seed Powders, and Ice Cakes are all interconnected in their history and are ingrained in locals taste buds as the go to mix with all three at the same time complimenting one another. Crack Seed Powders, (1) Li Hing Mui, (2) Cherry Crackseed (sugar, salt, licorice powder), (3) Lemon Crackseed (brown sugar, ginger, lemon juice and/or citric acid/ lemon powder), (4) Licorice Crackseed (licorice powder, raw sugar, salt, diced plum and/or li hing powder). These powders that were in older recipes include other flavored liquids or powders that add to the experience of eating a ice cake and effect the flavor of the syrup. Milk and Cream with some Ice Cake? Pouring milk flavors or even canned milk was not unheard of with ice cakes. Carnation Canned milk has quite the important history in Hawaii and was used when refrigeration was not cheap or the pantry version of milk. Milk would be poured all over the ice cake and add to the scraped ice flavored bits in each bite. It was hard to scrap the top of the ice cake, so sometimes it was flipped upside down and placed in a cup. A popular addition to a flipped ice cake would be to place ice cream at the bottom and put the ice cake on top and it was like a make shift shaved ice with ice cream. This was also done to prevent the ice cake from melting rapidly during the summer times in the summer heat. The most popular variation of this was "Blue Vanilla", Strawberry, Pineapple, and Lemon Lime ice cake that was commonly paired with vanilla ice cream. When looking for ice cakes in the market they can be quite expensive, so many will choose to make their own and the place they go is back to the syrup maker. Nowadays that go to brand would be "Harders Hawaii" that has been making many syrups that are as old as they are new and have brought renewed interest in the age old Ice cake as well as crack seed. photo from Harders
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