Mount Zion’s “Snookery”: Chocolate Almond Velvet Ice Cream

February 8, 2012

In 1967, just after the war when they moved into the newly acquired 60-room school building on Mount Zion, “it resembled a disaster zone…Stairways were filled with rubble; some walls were bullet-pocked from the war. It was hard for onlookers to share the Youngs’ enthusiasm for the place,” wrote Calvin Hanson, Young’s biographer. But Snook made their apartment the “talk of the town.”

In fact, when Christian actor Pat Boone was filming an Upper Room scene, the Youngs’ apartment was chosen because of its Arab-style high vaulted ceilings, stone flooring, and Snook’s ingenious choice of Middle Eastern decor, which gave it a “look of antiquity and authenticity.” According to Hanson:

 

Mrs. Young had been phenomenally successful in locating beautiful old furnishings to go with striking Persian rugs on stone floors of the arch-connected living and dining rooms, and a chest completely inlaid in mother-of-pearl. The deeply recessed niches with their dome-shaped windows were filled with old brass pieces…converted into huge lamps… The end table, a huge removable brass tray on a carved wood stand, samovars (urns with spigots), and other oriental objects of gleaming copper and brass artistically placed throughout the spacious living room all helped to lend a special touch of intrigue and atmosphere…

 

The Youngs’ kitchen was one of the nicest places in Jerusalem to have tea or coffee, and Dr. Young often brought home guests—announced or unannounced. Snook made sure the students ate well and often served the Hebrew language day students her homemade brownies and chocolate almond ice cream for their coffee breaks. Faculty, school visitors, and Christian tour groups also enjoyed her famous hospitality.

”When I came to Israel, I had to learn to cook all over again,“ said the vivacious Mrs. Young in a 1976 interview. ”One thing I like about cooking here is that I don’t depend on prepared or packaged foods. I much prefer doing everything from the beginning because I have to use my imagination and ingenuity.”

Snook was well known and loved on the streets of Jerusalem as well, always greeting and being greeted with warm embraces and kisses on both cheeks. She regularly baked spectacular birthday cakes for Arab and Jew alike, calling all by name and asking about their families. Like Snook, today, Bridges for Peace plays host to Christian visitors from all over the world—as well as Jewish people of the Land—not far from the Youngs’ home and is proud to have such an exemplary, grand lady as part of our heritage.
 

Chocolate Almond Velvet Ice Cream

1 can (16 ounce) chocolate syrup
1 can (16 ounce) sweetened condensed milk
4 cups whipping cream
2 tsp. vanilla
Half a cup blanched almonds

Mix together the syrup, milk, and cream until blended. Pour the mixture into a large plastic container, cover it, and place it in the freezer to get icy cold. Meanwhile, chop the almonds coarsely and saute them in a little butter until they are golden.

Remove the mixture from the freezer, stir in the vanilla, and beat the ice cream at high speed with a hand mixer until it is the consistency of softened ice cream. Fold in the almonds. Store in the freezer. It is better if made one day ahead.

Makes about 1 and a half gallons

Source: By Charleeda Sprinkle, Assistant Editor