An Unexpected Summer Refresher

Corn ice cream might sound a bit unusual—unless you grew up in Asia, Latin America or that portion of the U.S. Midwest so affectionately dubbed the Corn Belt. When I imagine people (women, more likely than not) going through all the trouble of husking, slicing, steeping, mashing, straining and churning corn ice cream, I laugh with the insider knowledge that all that work was still preferable to the alternative: another day eating corn fritters, corn chowder, corn salad, corn salsa, corn casserole, cornbread, corn grits, corn on the cob…or any other savory corn dish.

You don’t have to own a farm or a garden to empathize. We’ve all accidentally bought way too many peak-season peaches or cherries or tomatoes that needed to be used, stat. And there are only so many ways we can eat these things for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But make it sweet and cold when the rest of the world is on fire; make it ephemeral, novel, decadent; make it ice cream, and you’ll find that the abundance can make artisans of all of us.

I’ll admit that the corn ice cream I’ve eaten in China (always cheaper than the chocolate flavors and Nestle imports) was not good enough to make me reminisce fondly about it. But in the summer of 2016, I had a version that changed everything I felt about the possibilities of corn ice cream: the Sun-Popped Corn flavor made by Jeni’s Ice Creams.

At first, I was wary of popcorn ice cream, but I should never have doubted Jeni Britton Bauer, ice cream queen. The sun-popped corn, steeped directly in the milk, cream and sugar, became, upon churning, concentrated spoonfuls of distinctly buttery sunshine. Yet there was no actual butter in the ingredient list! It was baffling.

Jeni’s has only re-released their corn flavor twice in the years since I first tried it, but every summer I dream of the taste wistfully. This summer, I decided to recoup my years of loss, thanks to my all-time non-cooking kitchen appliance MVP: the Cuisinart ICE-20. This countertop ice cream maker is the same model that the Jeni’s Ice Creams team used to develop the recipes for their cookbooks, but the recipe I’ve developed here (using a few other tricks from the Jeni’s team, as well) will work for any at-home ice cream maker.

Ingredients and Equipment for Sweet Corn Ice Cream

• The most important ingredient in this recipe is the fresh corn. I experimented using between 2-4 ears and found that three ears is the sweet spot. That said, if your corn is very ripe, very fresh and very sweet already, you may be able to get away with using just two ears to flavor a quart of liquid (more on the mix of cream and milk below). Using four ears added too much volume to the mixture, and the ice cream wasn’t able to freeze as effectively.
• This ice cream is made without eggs, using Jeni’s at-home ice cream trick-fecta of cornstarch, cream cheese and light corn syrup. I KNOW, it sounds bizarre and antithetical to the gourmand in all of us who thinks that the best ice cream is made with only five ingredients, has no fillers, yada yada yada. That rule is true if you have access to commercial-grade super-freezing ice cream machines, but most of us who make ice cream at home have smaller appliances, and this method works for those models. The cornstarch and cream cheese make the ice cream velvety and creamy, and the corn syrup acts as a humectant and keeps the good moisture in (while adding less sweetness than table sugar). And, no, you won’t taste the cream cheese once everything is churned together.
• In my experience, the milk to cream ratio in this recipe is actually pretty flexible. A little more or less of each one won’t make much of a difference to the end flavor, especially since the cream cheese, cornstarch and corn syrup in the recipe are already providing added creaminess.
• While I’ve used the Cuisinart ICE-20 (or 21) to develop this recipe, it will work with any ice cream maker you have access to. I like the ICE-20 because it freezes ice cream faster than some other models and has less overrun (which makes the ice cream denser). The amounts below fit in mine without overflow while also accounting for the added volume from the corn. If you have a smaller compressor machine that creates more overrun, and you think the volume of liquid below won’t fit comfortably in your machine (or it comes up above a marked “fill” line), you can split the batch in half and run the machine twice to use up all of the base.

The Night Before: Prep Your Ice Cream Base and Equipment

1. Unless you’re using a compressor machine, make sure your churning canister is clean and in the freezer 24 hours before you plan to churn your ice cream! I also freeze a flat storage container to put the churned ice cream into when it’s done (more surface area = faster freezing and a longer runway for scooping).
2. Hold the unhusked corn by its stem, inside a bowl, and use a sharp knife to cut the kernels off the cob; repeat to use all three cobs. Scrape the bare cobs with the blunt edge of the knife to “milk” the remaining juice into the bowl. Use your hands to break the bare cobs in half or thirds, so they’ll fit in a saucepan, and set them aside.
3. Put the cornstarch in a small bowl and mix in just enough of the milk (about 2 tablespoons) to dissolve it into a smooth slurry.
4. Put the cream cheese and salt into a large mixing bowl (it should be large enough to hold all of the cooked ice cream base later in the recipe); put a fine-mesh sieve or a strainer lined with cheesecloth on top of the bowl and set it aside.
5. In a 4-quart saucepan, combine the corn kernels, cobs, remaining milk, heavy cream, sugar and corn syrup. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then simmer for 4 minutes to remove moisture and extract maximum sweetness from the fresh corn. Remove the pot from the heat and let it stand for 1 hour to infuse.
6. When the liquid has infused, remove and discard the corn cobs (scraping any liquid clinging to them into the pot). Puree the remaining cooked base with an immersion blender (or in a blender/food processor).
7. Give the cornstarch slurry another good mix and gradually whisk it into the ice cream base.
8. Use the whisk to briefly whip the cream cheese and salt together (now that the former has softened). Place a fine mesh sieve/strainer or a colander lined with cheesecloth over the cream cheese bowl and set it aside.
9. Return the pot with the ice cream base to the stove and bring the mixture back to a boil over medium heat. Cook it for about 1 minute, stirring constantly, until it is slightly thickened (it should coat the back of a spatula or spoon). Remove the pot from heat.
10. Pour a small amount of the hot ice cream base through the sieve/lined colander into the bowl with the cream cheese, then remove the sieve briefly and whisk the cream cheese and base together until smooth; return the sieve to the top of the bowl. Working in 2–3 batches, pour the rest of the hot ice cream base through the sieve into the bowl, stopping to press the liquid out of the corn solids that collect in the sieve and discard (or reserve) them as needed, whisking the cream cheese into the liquid each time.
11. When all of the liquid has been added to the bowl, whisk it once more, so that it is totally smooth, then cover it and refrigerate overnight to chill. (If you are in a rush and want to churn your ice cream sooner, you can also pour the mixture into a gallon Ziplock bag and submerge the sealed bag in an ice bath until cold, about 30 minutes.)

Churning and Freezing Your Ice Cream

1. Remove your ice cream maker’s frozen churning canister from the freezer. Assemble the machine and turn it on while empty (following the instructions provided by your appliance’s maker).
2. Quickly pour the chilled ice cream base into the canister and spin until thick and creamy (see your appliance’s instructions for an approximate time; this took about 22 minutes for me).
3. When the ice cream is done churning, remove the chilled storage container from the freezer and pack it with the churned ice cream.
4. Press a sheet of parchment paper directly against the surface and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.

Adding Chilies and Other Toppings to Your Corn Ice Cream

As sweet corn dreams go, mine often end with Mexican style elote, which has a great blend of creaminess and spice. (I’ve also enjoyed corn paletas dusted in tajin or with chili powder, cinnamon and other spices.) Inspired by the affinity between grilled corn and buttery, creamy, acidic, salty, savory spice, I knew this ice cream would be even better with the addition of The Mala Market’s “Gan Die” Dipping Chilies. And the dream delivered: The combo was a simple pairing, but it immediately brought those flavors to mind, as well as the tastes of Chinese night markets with their 烧烤 (shaokao) grilled street corn and spice rubs—all thanks to the secret blend of spice ingredients in the dipping chilies.

On subsequent nights, I tried the ice cream with a variety of other toppings as well. Borrowing from some Hong Kong and South Korean dessert trends, I drizzled evaporated milk on top and added a sprinkle of crushed cornflakes. (If I was handy with a deep fryer, the ultimate next step, to my mind, would be serving this corn ice cream as a fried cornflake-coated ball dusted with dipping chilies.) On another night, I served this ice cream with fresh strawberries for an impromptu rooftop dinner party. Peak season blackberries and raspberries, fresh or as jam, are also a harmonious pairing to summer corn. In fact, for a swirled ice cream effect, you can just layer globs of jam or coulis in the freshly churned ice cream when packing it into its storage container, before you freeze it.

For more summer ice cream recipes using Mala Market pantry ingredients, check out Taylor’s Sichuan Pepper Ice Cream with a special brown sugar sesame swirl!