Like most fancy-pants wanna-be’s, I often read recipes in the New York Times dining section and think “Yes! I am SO going to make that!”. Then I get distracted by work or something sparkly out of the corner of my eye and forget all about it. Not this time! I saw Melissa Clark’s recipe for corn ice cream and knew I wanted to try it. I also knew that Matt would be totally game because A) he’s always up for a challenge and B) he loves both corn and ice cream.
We had a a few ears of (not that great) corn that we bought in Long Island, so we decided to give this a try. It’s really good! It’s a tiny little bit under-sweetened to my taste (unusual for me) but that could be because the corn we used was not that sweet to begin with. If I make it again (with under-whelming corn), I would add a touch more sugar. Maybe just a tablespoon or so. Or, even better, I’ll leave it as-is and pour a bit of this (elixir of the gods) Salted Caramel Sauce on top.
Sweet Corn Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 4 ears fresh corn shucked
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 3/4 cup sugar plus 1 tablespoon if you want it sweeter
- 6 large egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 cup sour cream
Instructions
- Using a large knife, slice the kernels off the corn cobs and place in a large saucepan.
- Break cobs in half and add to pot along with milk, cream and 1/2 cup sugar.
- Bring mixture to a boil, stirring, then remove from heat.
- Let stand to infuse for 1 hour, then discard corn cobs.
- Using an immersion or regular blender, purée kernel mixture.
- Return mixture to a simmer, then turn off heat.
- In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks, 1/8 teaspoon salt and another 1/4 cup of sugar.
- Add a cup of hot cream mixture to the yolks, stirring constantly so they don’t curdle.
- Add yolk mixture to saucepan, stirring. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until custard thickens enough to coat the spoon, about 10 minutes.
- Pass custard through a fine sieve, pressing down hard on the solids. Discard solids.
- Whisk in vanilla and sour cream until smooth.
- Let custard cool in an ice bath, then cover and chill for at least 4 hours.
- Freeze the custard in an ice cream maker (use the directions for your specific model). We have an attachment for our Kitchen Aid stand mixer, which works pretty well.
- Once the custard is a soft-serve consistency, move it to an air-tight container and freeze for another couple of hours.
***Full disclosure. Our custard totally separated when we cooked it, though it was initially hard to see because of the corn bits. I was ready to admit defeat, but Matt re-emulsified the mixture with the immersion blender and it ended up being fine. Yay Matt! Yay immersion blender!
Nerd Tips:
- The colder the custard is before you freeze it, the smoother the your ice cream will be so refrigerating it overnight is a good idea.
- If you don’t feel like making the Salted Caramel Sauce, some blueberries or blackberries on top would work well. If you wanted a quick fruit sauce, heat a 1/2 pint of them with a about a tablespoon of sugar and a teaspoon of lemon zest and juice. Just cook them until the fruit bursts and the sugar melts.