Sweet Corn & Black Raspberry Ice Cream

It’s July – National Ice Cream Month! I don’t celebrate many food holidays/months, but this is one I can’t miss. If you’ve been following along on Instagram, I’ve started my own little celebration: ice cream of the day (ICOTD for short), sharing a daily ice cream photo from years past as well as a few new flavors. Earlier this week I made a rare declarative statement about coffee ice cream being my favorite always and forever. It’s not often that I enjoy being proven wrong, but finding a new ice cream flavor to beat out a stellar classic is a pretty great exception. This sweet corn and black raspberry ice cream is brilliant in every way…entirely unsurprising since it comes from the fabulous Jeni. It’s unique, beautiful, and the flavors perfectly compliment each other. Maybe it’s the native Hoosier in me, but the sweet corn ice cream makes me weak in the knees.

I had my heart set on making this with black raspberries as called for, even though I knew they would not be easy to find. They weren’t available in our produce delivery and I couldn’t find them even at the grocery store I thought might have a slight chance of carrying them. I wasn’t giving up so easily, so some quick internet searching found me a local farm where we could pick our own. And isn’t that SO much better anyway? Of course it is! We had a fantastic time picking the berries and of course, that kind of fresh flavor can’t be beat. Using local sweet corn and local black raspberries seemed the only right way to make this since fresh, local ingredients are at the heart of everything Jeni’s does. I recommend trying to find someplace near you to pick the berries but if you can’t, don’t worry – there’s a substitution recommendation below. I do urge you to try this though. It will make your tastebuds so happy.

Yield about 1 quart

Ingredients

For the black raspberry sauce:

2 cups black raspberries*
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. water

For the sweet corn ice cream:

1 ear sweet corn, husked
2 cups whole milk
1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. cornstarch
3 tbsp. (1½ oz.) cream cheese, softened
¼ tsp. fine sea salt
1¼ cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp. light corn syrup

Directions

01
To make the black raspberry sauce, combine the black raspberries and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water and mix until smooth. Bring the berry mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once boiling, stir in the cornstarch mixture. Let cook about 1 minute more, until the mixture thickens slightly. Remove from the heat and press through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled before using.
02
Cut the kernels of corn from the cob and place in a medium saucepan. Use the back of the knife or a spoon to scrape against the now spent corn cob, extracting the corn milk into the saucepan as well. In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of the whole milk with the cornstarch and whisk to a smooth slurry. In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese and salt and whisk until smooth. Add the remaining 1¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons of milk, cream, sugar, and corn syrup to the saucepan with the corn. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil over medium-high heat and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Return to the heat and bring back to a boil, stirring with a spatula until slightly thickened, about 1 minute.
03
Strain the hot milk mixture through a sieve to remove the corn into the bowl with the cream cheese; whisk until smooth. Transfer the mixture to the refrigerator to chill thoroughly before churning. (Alternatively, you can place the bowl with the mixture into a larger bowl with an ice bath and stir until chilled.)
04
Once chilled, freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Layer the finished ice cream in a storage container alternating layers with the chilled black raspberry sauce. Cover and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.
05
*Note: If you are unable to find black raspberries, you can use half raspberries and half blackberries for a similar color and somewhat similar flavor. Still, try to find local berries for best flavor!

Source

slightly adapted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home