Our neighborhood ice cream joint is Cones on Bleecker Street. A few weeks ago I noticed a new (new, or new to me?) flavor: Sweet Corn Ice Cream. It was delicious, and after trying it out at home, I realized it was quite easy to make. This is not their recipe (I don't think they share such information), but an approximation of what I tasted there.
Sweet Corn Ice Cream
Makes about 1 quart
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups milk
2 ears sweet corn, shucked, kernels reserved, cobs chopped into 1-inch hunks
1/2 vanilla bean or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 egg yolks
1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup sugar
In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the cream, milk, corn cobs, and vanilla bean (if using vanilla extract, add later). Bring to a simmer. Stir to dissolve sugar. Gently cook for 10 minutes. Remove corn cobs with a slotted spoon.
Whisk the egg yolks and 1/3 cup sugar together in a bowl until pale yellow. Slowly whisk in the hot cream mixture. Whisk until well combined and smooth. Return the mixture to the saucepan and stir over low heat for 1 minute, until it coats the back of a spoon. Strain the custard through a fine sieve. Stir in the vanilla extract, if using.
In a small saucepan, bring 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup sugar and the corn kernels to a simmer, cooking until kernels are soft, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add the corn mixtureto the custard. Allow it to cool in a bowl with a piece of plastic wrap against the top to prevent a skin from forming. When cool, process in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.
(photo: Long Island Seed Project)
Using corn in dessert is awesome! There's a Chinese dessert that is essentially a cream of corn sweetened with evaporated milk aand probably more sugar. Yum.
if the vanilla were replaced with salted butter, i would die and go to heaven. :) the salty/sweet thing gets me every time.
I love that flavor at Cones. Oh darn, yet another reason that I need an ice cream maker!
That's really interesting. How did you figure out to use the cobs as opposed to just the kernels?
The July Martha Stewart has a great recipe for caramel corn ice cream -- same kind of corn base.
Normally I trust you on almost any flavor and take down your suggested recipes right away, but this time I think I am going to give the sweetcorn ice cream a miss. Something about it just doesn't feel right to me...
i love cones corn ice cream! in fact, i'd been playing with corn ice cream for the ice cream contest...only less sweet & some jalepenos steeped in for their heat. Oh well...back to the drawing board.
no! abby! don't stop!
chile-corn sounds great . . .
Abby, no reason to stop... forge ahead!
So that really was a real question--it never would have occurred to me to use the cobs. Is that a standard things and I'm just out of the loop? Or how did you think of it, S.K.?
Thanks. I'll definitely have to give this a try. Here in Columbus, we have a wonderful source for fantastic ice cream - http://www.jenisicecreams.com/ (also linked to my name). Each summer she makes a sweet corn with blackberry conserve ice cream that is to die for. Check out the link for her other interesting flavor combinations, including Candied Beets and Mascarpone ice cream with Honey and Orange Zest, Sweet Basil Ice Cream with Honey and Pinenuts, Coriander Ice Cream with Fresh Raspberry Jelly.
apparently great minds think alike.
my submission was going to be horchata ice cream...
For many Corn is a tasty product and really is good. But for many others corn is hell! It can kill because many are allergic to it! It is just as bad as peanuts and other popular allergenic food items on the "major" list, but Corn isn't listed! Why? If it kills people and causing so many problems with multitudes (and it does) why isn't it listed and labeled properly on all products and that means Food, Drinks and MEDICINE! It isn't listed properly but rather in molecular terms in many cases. The public only Needs the term CORN shown on the label to stay away from it! Due to its ability and functions along with the cheapness of it the Nation has corn ingredients in EVERYTHING! Well, not good for us who could die from it! Hope you all enjoy your corn but make sure you label your products if they don't have the "corn" name in it so we can stay away from the stuff!
Thanks for the recipe. I had corn ice cream (with some sea salt crystals sprinkled on top) at Boulette's Larder in the Ferry Building in San Francisco. Along with the ice cream, the chef, Amaryl, served a jelly and a rosemary shortbread. The combination was divine. For any of you who live in San Francisco, I recommend this wonderful small restaurant. The food is fresh and elegantly prepared. The combinations unique.
Please, post a horchata ice cream recipe.
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I've followed your advice and it was extraordinary. I've seen this on the arizona food reviews too but didn't tried it before. It really works !
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I adapted this recipe and it tasted amazing! Left out the vanilla to get more pure corn flavor in the ice cream, I'm going to try some on a piece of warm cornbread...
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