Summer's corniest treat makes a pretty cool ice cream sandwich, too
Lolling in front of the air conditioner and wishing for Snowmageddon is one way to beat the heat. For me, the only sensible response is ice cream - specifically and most recently, the corn ice cream I had at New York's Empellon restaurant.
It filled a taco-shaped waffle and had me imagining a way to bring this quintessential double dose of summer flavor to a backyard get-together. With chef Alex Stupak's recipe in hand, I sought further advice from ice cream maker Susan Soorenko, owner of Moorenko's Ice Cream in Silver Spring, Maryland. She is a neighbor, so admittedly the search wasn't difficult. Moorenko's has made a sweet corn ice cream since 2009, finished with a pinch of salt.
I shared the Empellon ingredient list with her, which included dextrose and guar gum - both of which I chose to omit from my version. "When you're producing for sale," she said, "you have to stabilize the ice cream with something to overcome the iciness that happens on Day 2 or 3."
The Empellon ice cream does not contain eggs, which accounts in part for its light and refreshing texture. It's more ice milk than ice cream, with corn-infused flavor so intense it reverberates. It also is slightly grainy and salt-forward on the tongue; Susan explained the graininess as expected. Corn is a grain, after all.
But salty-sweet corn ice cream is a bit unexpected, and that strong salt finish is delightful. I would serve it on its own anytime. Sandwiching it between two small crispy corn waffles takes the sweet treat over the top.
Stupak's waffle-as-taco-shell is thin and crisp, with pockets sufficient to cradle every bit of ice cream as it softens. After I smoothed a thick batter across my waffle iron, indentations were already forming. My iron, a classic American waffler, divides round waffles into five slim and crackly heart-shaped sections. If your waffle maker doesn't create convenient shapes, use kitchen scissors or a 2½- to 3-inch cookie cutter to make small ice cream sandwich bookends.
Homemade ice cream and the waffles to put it on might seem like a lot of fuss, but it's easy to break down the recipes into discrete tasks over a couple of days. The waffles can be made a day ahead, and the ice cream can be frozen for a day or two before assembling the sandwiches. When you make this dessert in one fell swoop, cook the waffles while the ice cream churns, assembling the sandwiches with soft ice cream straight from the machine. Or if you have frozen the ice cream in advance, allow it to soften only to the point where a round, firm ball can be scooped, about 15 minutes in my kitchen.
Then again, if you aren't up to making the waffles, sandwich the ice cream between your favorite crisp cookies.
Homebound by the heat or not, the best response to a weather event may be a neighborhood get-together. This ice cream, with or without the sandwiches made with it, would be a cool way to break the ice.
• Cathy Barrow is a Washington cookbook author.