The Subtly Sweet Vegetable That Works Wonderfully Well In Ice Cream

Let's dive right in: We think corn deserves to be in a lot of foods it doesn't guest star in often, most of them sweet. Corn already has a delightfully sweet taste naturally that you can make even sweeter with your cast iron. You can also add that sweet corn to your crème brûlée and thank us later. You can and should also add it to homemade ice cream to experience a new, refreshing take on your favorite frozen treat. Corn adds just a tiny touch of something savory to your otherwise sweet dessert, brings some balancing earthiness to the mix, and gives the whole thing a velvety feel so it truly eats like a luxurious treat.

To make your own sweet corn ice cream, you just need your favorite vanilla ice cream recipe and a couple big ears of fresh corn. Remove the kernels and steep the cobs in your milk to start imparting the flavor, then purée the kernels to add to the milk once you start heating it. Once you have a cooked custard, strain out all of the solids and finish your ice cream off as you normally would for a smooth and buttery treat.

To get the best possible corn ice cream, go for a truly fresh ear of corn sometime between April and July, sweet corn's peak harvest season. Be sure to hit the local grocer or farmers' market if any are available to snag freshly picked corn for a reasonable price. While you can use frozen or the best canned corns if need be, we generally suggest going for fresh wherever the option is available.

For additional ingredients, the key is to keep things simple. Corn is a pretty delicate flavor that may get overwhelmed and lost if you pile in too many add-ons with strong flavor profiles, so leave vanilla as your primary source of additional flavor. Tossing in some salt can bring out the sweetness of the corn even further, though, so don't be afraid to add a pinch or two to taste. Corn is pretty plentiful in peak harvest season, so go ahead and experiment with different amounts of ingredients and flavors to find the corn ice cream that really hits the spot.