little miss sweetie: Sweet Corn & Coconut Ice Cream

Weird...I know. But shockingly delicious. I love it when an unexpected ingredient turns out so wonderfully in a recipe. I first read about corn ice cream in a food magazine, and that some chefs were serving it, to great acclaim, at their restaurants. I never gave it much thought again until last week, when I simply had to buy the corn at a produce market just because they looked so beautiful. After a few days, I still hadn't successfully incorporated these corn into my dinners...so I thought...why not make dessert? If it turns out inedible, at least the corn would have contributed to my food experiments...it's a much more meaningful life than rotting away in the fridge! I mean, it would be safe and easy to make "normal" ice cream, like vanilla or chocolate...but where's the fun in that?

Sweet corn & coconut ice cream
makes 3 cups

3 ears fresh sweet corn, husked and washed
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
7 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup coconut milk

Using a grater, coarsely grate corn kernels from the corn into a large pot.

Add in cobs, milk and cream. Bring mixture to a boil. Remove from heat, cover and let steep for 30 minutes.

Strain corn mixture into a bowl, pressing on the kernels to extract more juice. Set aside.
In a large heat-proof mixing bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until pale in color. Slowly whisk in corn-milk mixture. Set over a bowl of barely simmering water and continue whisking, until mixture thickens and can coat the back of a spoon, about 6 minutes. This mixture should be the consistency of custard. Gently stir in coconut milk.

Let custard cool to room temperature, then refrigerate at least 6 hours, or overnight.

Set up ice cream machine or attachment. With machine running, pour in chilled custard.