I think I've hit the ice cream jackpot...I can't tell you how fantastic this is, as weird as it might sound. However, it never sounded weird to me. I mean there is nothing new about sweet corn ice cream, I just wanted blueberry in it. Have you ever had a sweet corn and blueberry salad? It's amazing, just as I knew this ice cream would be. First of all, the ice cream turns this beautiful lavender color and is flecked with pieces of frozen corn and sweet blueberries. It's almost savory-sweet but it's not. In fact it's the perfect amount of sweetness. I want you all to try it so badly.
I have to say, I started making this ice cream at 10PM (in my favorite ice cream maker), it seems to be the only time these days when I have cooking availability. For some crazy reason (oh yeah, it's summer), my boys were still awake. They asked what type of ice cream I was making, I purposefully told them "corn" ice cream, just to see their reaction. You should have seen the horror in their faces. Corn! They couldn't believe it. I love scaring them.
This is also a "no-custard" recipe but does require a few pre-steps, like chilling your ingredients, cooking your corn and blueberry mixture. It's all so worth it and really isn't a big deal at all.
The ice cream is tangy and full of texture and is just so, so good!! I'm sure Ben and Jerry's will be begging me to license the recipe....ha-ha.
Sweet Corn-Blueberry Buttermilk Ice Cream
Recipe Created by Noble Pig | Makes: 1-1/2 quarts
Ingredients:
3 ears fresh corn, husks and silk removed
1-1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup full-fat buttermilk
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk, cold
Directions:
Heat a large pan of water until boiling. Place shucked corn into water for 3 minutes. Remove to a plate until cool enough to handle. Holding one end of the corn, cut off all the kernels into the bowl, it's okay to cut deep and keep all that corn milk that is falling into the pan...it will all go right into the ice cream. Repeat with other corn pieces. Place in the refrigerator to cool down.
In a small saucepan, add blueberries, sugar and lemon juice. Cook on medium until berries start to burst and sugar is melted. I ended up smashing many of them and leaving some whole. Place into another dish for cooling purposes. Once cooled down a bit, place in the refrigerator.
Once corn kernals and blueberry mixture are cold, in a large bowl, combine heavy cream, buttermilk, cold sweetened condensed milk and corn kernals (including any milk that may have accumulated from the bottom of the corn bowl). I do not like to do this in the bowl of the ice cream maker as it starts to freeze things before they are mixed. Once combined, pour into ice cream freezer bowl and start immediately. Freeze according to manufactures directions. Once ice cream is frozen, pour in the blueberry mixture and incorporate/churn until just combined, about 1 minute.
Remove ice cream to a freezer safe container and chill another 4 hours or over night.
Cathy owns a vineyard and winery in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. She is a food writer for Davis Life Magazine and blogs daily about wine, food and everyday living. She lives with her husband and two sons. You can visit her at noblepig.com.