Corn Ice Cream

Corn ice cream may not be the first flavor that pops into your mind when you crave the cold treat, but it might become your favorite after trying this recipe. Corn, cream, milk, sugar and vanilla are mixed with egg yolks to create a rich ice cream with plump kernels everywhere. The combination of smooth cream and juicy kernels creates a balance in texture.

Over the past few years, ice cream manufacturers have released savory flavors including bacon, cheese, sriracha sauce and even latkes. Looking at different cuisines worldwide, you’ll find many more options. (And if you want to explore more of these flavors, take a look at this list of ice cream flavors that you need to taste-test. Also, try this blue cheese ice cream with pomegranate ripple.) Black sesame ice cream, for example, is very popular in East Asia and has become a favorite of many in the U.S. A beloved Filipino ice cream flavor is keso (or queso), made with cheese bits. And guess what? There’s even a Filipino dessert called mais con yelo, a mix of sweet milk, ice and corn.

Corn Ice Cream Ingredients

Jonathan Melendez for Taste of Home

• Whole-kernel corn: If you use fresh-off-the-cob kernels, don’t cut them or smash them to get them off the cob. You want as many whole kernels as possible. Too many tiny kernel bits could make the ice cream’s texture seem rough.
• Whole milk and heavy whipping cream: The whipping cream provides most of the fat for the ice cream, while the whole milk adds more moisture while adding only a little more fat. Don’t use low-fat or skim milk here as the fat from the whole milk is necessary.
• Sugar: This will sweeten the ice cream base and help with texture and shelf life.
• Salt: Normally, a little salt for taste isn’t a huge deal in a recipe. Here, the small amount of salt is necessary to give the flavor better balance.
• Egg yolks: Egg yolks help with emulsification and making the ice cream texture nice and thick. Save the whites for another recipe, such as one of this meringue cookie recipes.
• Vanilla extract: This will help flavor the ice cream base. While you can have sweet-cream bases without vanilla flavoring, the vanilla creates a more well-rounded flavor.

Directions

Step 1: Cook the corn and dairy

Jonathan Melendez for Taste of Home

Add the milk and corn to a large saucepan and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer the mixture for 10 minutes. Then, add the whipping cream, sugar and salt. Cook the mixture over medium-low heat until you see bubbles forming along the side of the pan. Keep stirring to ensure the sugar dissolves.

Step 2: Add the egg yolks

Jonathan Melendez for Taste of Home

Add the egg yolks to a small bowl and whisk in a small amount of the hot cream mixture. Pour all of that yolk-cream mixture back into the larger saucepan while whisking constantly. Keep cooking the mixture over low heat, stirring constantly until the mixture coats the back of a metal spoon and the mixture reaches 180°F. Don’t allow the mixture to boil. Transfer the mixture to a clean bowl immediately.

Step 3: Cool the mixture

Jonathan Melendez for Taste of Home

Fill a pan that’s larger than the bowl with ice water. Place the bowl in the ice water, and occasionally stir the mixture very gently, over the next two minutes. Whisk in the vanilla extract. Gently press wax paper onto the surface of the mixture, and place the bowl in the refrigerator. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Step 4: Make the ice cream

Jonathan Melendez for Taste of Home

Pour enough of the mixture into the cylinder of an ice cream maker to fill the cylinder 2/3 full. Put the rest of the mixture back in the refrigerator for now. Freeze the ice cream according to the manufacturer’s directions. Transfer the ice cream to a freezer container and freeze for four to six hours. The ice cream should be firm at that point. Repeat the process with the rest of the cream mixture.

Jonathan Melendez for Taste of Home

Corn Ice Cream Variations

• Grab cookies and make ice cream sandwiches: If you have a vanilla sugar cookie recipe you’ve wanted to make, now’s the time. Make the cookies a couple of inches across and use them as wafers to hold this ice cream.
• Add a topping: Try the ice cream with a drizzle of caramel or butterscotch syrup on top. And, just as you’d add a little salt to a buttered ear of corn, you might try sprinkling a little flaky sea salt over the ice cream, too. Start with a tiny amount because a little goes a long way.

How to Store Corn Ice Cream

Place airtight containers that you’ll use for storage in the freezer while the ice cream maker is churning.  When the ice cream is ready, spoon it into the containers. Leave 1/2 to 1 inch of headspace (the larger the container, the more headspace you should leave). The headspace allows the ice cream to expand a bit as it freezes, without popping the top of the container off. Place a sheet of plastic wrap or wax paper over the surface of the ice cream and seal the container. The paper or wrap helps protect the surface of the ice cream from freezer burn. Store the ice cream in the back of the freezer, away from the warm air that can waft in when you open the freezer door.

How long does corn ice cream last?

The ice cream should last for one to two weeks. If the ice cream was properly frozen and stored, you’ll be able to eat it after that time. However, the flavor may degrade and the texture may become icy.

Corn Ice Cream Tips

Jonathan Melendez for Taste of Home

Can you make this without the egg yolks?

While there is ice cream made without eggs, try not to omit the egg yolks in this recipe. Yolks give the base a creaminess and smoothness that the cream and milk alone can’t achieve. This style of ice cream is known as a custard-based ice cream or a French-style ice cream. The yolks help emulsify the ingredients, making the resulting ice cream rich and thick. Ice cream that doesn’t use eggs, often called Philadelphia-, American- or New York-style ice cream, tends to be thinner in texture. It also tends to have more air and larger ice crystals. Custard-based ice creams also last a little longer in the freezer.

Can you use frozen or canned corn instead of fresh?

You could use canned corn or frozen corn that you’ve thawed as long as the corn is sweet and has adequate flavor. If you have canned corn where the corn is kind of bland, it’s not going to taste very good in the ice cream. Fresh, sweet corn, of course, gives you the best chance of having great flavor.

Why do you need salt in this recipe?

This recipe calls for a small amount of salt to be added into the base in order to enhance the flavor of the ice cream. You know how you add sugar to tomato sauce to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes? The salt here helps balance out the sugar and sweet cream, giving the ice cream flavor more depth. Do measure the salt carefully as you don’t want to add too much and tip the flavor of the ice cream from balanced to salty. By the way, salt lowers the freezing point of water, which is why you usually pair rock salt and ice for the mixture that surrounds the main canister in ice cream churns. The salt prevents the ice from fully melting before the ice cream base cools down. So the idea of adding salt to the ice cream may seem odd, as you do want the ice cream to freeze. But in this recipe, the amount of salt is so small that you don’t have to worry about it having any effect on the freezing time for the ice cream.