Sweet Corn Ice Cream with Blackberry Swirl

Get the Recipe: Sweet Corn Ice Cream with Blackberry Swirl

Sweet Corn Ice Cream with Blackberry Swirl is the perfect end-of-summer combo! This homemade ice cream uses a sweet corn infused crème anglaise for its base and an easy, thickened blackberry syrup ribboned throughout.

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Yield12 scoops (1quart/.95L)

Prep30

Cook1

Chill12

Total13 30

Ingredients

Sweet Corn Ice Cream Base

2 ears sweet corn, (about 450-550g)
½ cup sweet corn kernels
1 cup whole milk
¾ cup refined, granulated sugar
2 cups heavy whipping cream , (divided in half)
1¼ teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
6 egg yolks, (about 90-95g)

Blackberry Syrup

12 oz blackberries
¼ cup refined, granulated sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice, fresh squeezed
¼ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt

Equipment

1 kitchen scale optional
1 chef, slicer, or paring knife
1 cutting board
1-2 medium bowls
measuring Cups
Measuring spoons
1-2 small sauce pot(s)
1 high-powered blender
1 Fine Mesh Strainer
1 whisk, immersion blender, or hand mixer
1 spatula
1 instant read thermometer
1 small bowl
1 ice cream maker
1 quart-sized container (.95L) or loaf pan
1 chopstick or offset spatula

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Instructions

Sweet Corn Ice Cream Base

First, run a knife around the center of the cob and break the scored corn in half with your hands. Then, place the broken side down on a rimmed plate or wide bowl and cut the kernels off with a knife in strips, top to bottom. Once all the kernels are cut off, set aside ½ cup (75g) of the kernels and the spent cobs for the recipe. Feel free to do whatever you want with the remaining kernels.
Next, mix and heat half the cream (1c or 240ml/250g), the milk, sugar, and salt in a saucepan until all of the sugar has dissolved and the mixture starts steaming (not boiling). Add in the spent corn cobs, turn off the heat, cover the pot with a lid, and let the mixture sit for about 30 minutes before moving it to the refrigerator. Let the corn steep in the sweet cream mixture for another 1.5-3.5 hours. The longer the chill, the stronger the flavor.
After the sweet corn cream mixture has chilled, remove the cobbs. Before tossing them, scrape off any fat that solidified to their surfaces and give them a squeeze over the bowls. Pour the remaining liquid and kernels into a blender and blend on high until the liquid is smooth. Strain the sweet corn mixture over a bowl and clean the pot for re-use.
In the clean pot, whisk the eggs yolks well. They will froth and lighten a bit when they are ready. Then, slowly, pour the sweet corn cream mixture from the bowl into the egg yolks. Whisk constantly for good incorporation. (If you have either, an immersion/stick blender or hand mixer will make this step faster.)
Before cooking the ice cream base (a.k.a. custard sauce or crème anglaise) add the remaining cup of cold cream to a large bowl and set a fine mesh strainer on top. Place it in the refrigerator until it’s time to use it.
Now, place the pot on the stove top over medium-low heat. Stir with a heatproof spatula until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. This will take between 20-30 minutes. Make sure to check the temperature several times while heating the custard. Do not go over 180°F (82°C) while thickening. (I tend to keep mine between 170-175°F (76-79°C) to be on the safe side.) To check the viscosity, run a finger across the coated spatula. The custard base should not run back together.
Take the cream out of the refrigerator and pour the thickened custard through the strainer. Stir it into the cold cream, to stop any carry over cooking. Cover and chill the mixture completely in the refrigerator. It should take roughly 4-8 hours.

Blackberry Syrup

While the sweet corn ice cream base chills, make the blackberry syrup. Rinse the blackberries in the sink and then dump them into a small, clean pot. Add in the lemon juice, sugar, and salt. Heat and stir everything on a stove top between medium and medium high heat. Over 10-15minutes, the blackberries will breakdown into a rustic sauce. Feel free to mash or stir to your heart’s content to move things along.
Once you have a loose sauce, strain it through a fine mesh strainer into a small bowl. Use a spoon to scrape and push as much liquid into the container below as you can. There should be roughly 5oz (150ml or 180g) of blackberry syrup. When mostly pulp and seeds are left, it’s time to thicken the strained blackberry syrup.
Rinse the pot and pour the blackberry sauce back in. Boil the syrup on the stove top until it reduces by half (about 2.5oz, 75ml, or 90g). It should thicken to a similar consistency as maple syrup. When the pot is scraped, while stirring, the syrup should separate for a second and run back together. If it’s too thin, there won’t be any separation. It should not take longer than 10 minutes to reduce the syrup. When done, cover and chill the blackberry syrup in the refrigerator along with the sweet corn ice cream base.

Sweet Corn Ice Cream with Blackberry Swirl Assembly

When ready to churn, pour the sweet corn ice cream mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. Once frozen, scrape about half of the ice cream base into an 8.5 x 4.5 x 2.5 in (21.6 x 11.4 x 6.4 cm) loaf pan or quart sized (.95L) ice cream container. Then, spoon half of the blackberry syrup on top of the sweet corn ice cream and use a long utensil like a chopstick or offset spatula to gently swirl the syrup and base together. The point is to spread it around and create marbleization not mix it in. Less is more. Repeat with the base and syrup once more, using the other half of each component.
Once layered and ready, place the sweet corn ice cream with blackberry swirl into your freezer for at least 6 hours to harden. Scoop when frozen and enjoy.

Notes

If the sweet corn ice cream base seems runny and is not thickening, DO NOT turn up the heat, just have patience and keep stirring.
A lot of ice cream recipes use ice baths after tempering. You don't technically need it for this recipe. Straining the hot custard into the cold cream stops any carry over cooking.
An ice bath saves on refrigeration time before churning. But it also sacrifices flavor.
Don't have an ice cream maker? That's okay! Put you fully chilled corn ice cream base in the freezer and after about an hour remove it and scrape down the ice cream that has begun to freeze around the edges. Return it to the freezer and check in every 30 minutes using a hand-held mixer to really break up any frozen sections. When the consistency is that of frozen yogurt, swirl in the blackberry syrup and place it back into the freezer until fully solid. It should be ready to eat in about 2-3 hours. It won't be as creamy as a machine, but it'll still be delicious.
DON'T FORGET! Freeze the bowl of any churn style ice cream machines at least 24hours before making ice cream or it won't be cold enough.
The ice cream texture is its creamiest/freshest within 2 weeks of making it. However, it can last as long as 1 month in the freezer before developing freezer burn and/or a stale mouthfeel.
This recipe fills up a 9x5x2.5 (22.86×12.7×6.35cm) loaf pan about ¾ of the way. If you want to use a different vessel or insulated ice cream container, just make sure it can hold up to 8c or 1.9L of ice cream

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