Saturday, September 25, 2010

Sweet Corn Ice Cream


A few weeks ago my husband and I met a few friends after work at Flora in downtown Oakland. I jumped on BART and simply walked a block and there was this amazing restaurant. It is located in the uptown district of Oakland and the surrounding area is going through revitalization. Oakland has a poor reputation due to the high crime rate; however the local chefs are quickly realizing that Oakland is becoming the next gourmet scene in the Bay Area. Local foodies are beginning to flock to these new hot spots and taking advantage of this new restaurant boom.

Flora is the brain child of Dona Savisky and Thomas Schnertz who wanted to create a dining destination and bar the was reminiscent of the prohibition era with art deco style. The cocktails are specially crafted to echo that era along with updated American classics that have a definite flair. Flora sits in the beautifully ornate Oakland Floral Depot building and across from the newly renovated beautiful Fox Theatre.

Our food was amazing but the dessert really struck me and inspired me to make sweet corn ice cream. We shared two desserts with one being “corn ice cream, peach sorbet, crisp puff pastry, hazelnut streusel with blueberries”. The corn ice cream just added that extra special flavor profile to the blueberry crumble and the only problem was that there were four people sharing this divine dessert. Note to self for next time – order my own dessert.

























Sweet Corn Ice Cream

4 Ears Fresh Corn
2 C. Milk
2 C. Cream
¾ C. Sugar
6 Egg Yolks
1 t. Vanilla

Remove any husks from the corn and then cut off the kernels. Break each of the cobs into three or four pieces.

In a medium pot add the milk and cream and bring to a boil, then reduce to medium low heat. Add the corn kernels and cobs. Cook for 10 minutes then turn off heat and let steep for about one hour.

After one hour, remove the cobs and pour the remaining liquid with kernels through a fine sieve or strainer. Add back to the pan and add the vanilla. Heat on medium heat until warm.

In a bowl add the egg yolks and sugar. Whisk until slightly fluffy and a light yellow color. Add about a ¼ cup of the warm milk to temper the eggs, and then add the entire egg mixture to the pot of warm milk and cream. Cook on medium until the back of a wooden spoon is coated and slightly thickened. Remove from heat and let cool in a water bath or refrigerator overnight in a covered container.

Process through an ice cream maker according the to the manufacturers directions. Serve alone or over your favorite fruit crumble.

11 comments:

  1. Yum, this sounds delicious! Love the photos too.

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  2. Sweet corn ice cream sounds divine. We should check out the Oakland dining scene, your dessert at Flora sounds superb. I agree that sometimes shared desserts are not a good thing;)

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  3. I love sweet corn desserts, any with polenta. This looks great.

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  4. So happy to hear of revitalization in Oakland! I haven't been there in over 15 years, but my husband has the occasional layover. I will direct him from your info!
    Never heard of corn ice cream! What a neat idea!

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  5. I'd love to taste this...I can't imagine the flavors of sweet corn in an ice cream, but I'm intrigued enough to want to make this!

    Isn't that something when sharing a dessert? :)

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  6. Dessert sharing always leaves me wanting more :) I've never heard of sweet corn ice cream before! It's definitely something I want to try...thanks for the recipe!

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  7. Oh this looks absolutely divine! I can just imagine how well it paired with the blueberry dessert - an unusual pairing but now that I think about it, it makes sense!

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  8. I've dined in Oakland on a couple of occasions and I totally see the redevelopment happening. Compared to you, though, I'm a total homebody--so many places to enjoy that I haven't been.

    This sweet corn ice cream is something I would really enjoy. Maybe I should pop out the ice cream maker once more so I can try this.

    So lovely to meet you last night, Lisa!

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  9. How unique and creative, this is so great!

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  10. This is something I would have never thought of, but now it makes so much sense! Thanks for sharing, it looks delicious

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  11. i've never tried sweet corn ice cream. it sounds delightful.

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