tradition

Every time my family drives up to Cape Cod, we stop at Friendly’s in Mystic, CT. Right off 95, it’s a time to stretch our legs during the 8-hour ride and it’s our marker saying, “you only have 2 more hours.”

But there’s a sweeter reason why my mom and I love this stop so. Black raspberry ice cream with hot fudge sauce!

One of my all time favorite flavors and one of my many favorite things about Cape Cod since there’s only one company where I can get pints regularly here in NYC (Adirondack Creamery) and at home, you can’t get it at all!

I know, I know, New Englanders don’t realize what they have.

So come Connecticut, I have it every chance I can while I’m up there savoring each and every bite.

 

What’s your favorite ice cream flavor? Do you have any food traditions while on vacation?

corn ice cream with caramelized corn and raspberries

Remember when I told you to save the corn cobs if you could? This is why!

Corn ice cream, oh yes I did. (I’m obviously not the only one who has done this, but it was a first for me!)

Farm-fresh creamy milk infused with the “milk” of the inner cob, the warm cinnamon complement this sweet ice cream and will please your guests after a Labor Day crab feast (if you’re from Maryland like me) or just on the terrace of your apartment building (if you’re like me living in NYC right now). I added caramelized corn and fresh raspberries my friend David from Z Food Farm gave me on top, but for a more savory flavor, some spiced pecans or a bit of ancho chili and candied bacon would also work. Right Jessica?

Corn Ice Cream (makes 1 quart)

3 cups of whole milk, separated

3-5 corn cobs

1/2 cup organic cane sugar

1/4 cup honey

pinch of salt

6 egg yolks

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

for caramelized corn:

1 cup corn

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

pinch of salt and pepper

1 cup of fresh raspberries, blueberries, blueberries or spiced pecans

1. Scrape the corn’s “milk” into a medium pot. Cut or snap the cobs in half and fit into the pot and add 2 cups of milk to the pot. Bring to a boil. Once it boils, turn off the heat and let the milk steep for 1 hour.

2. To set up for the custard base, make an ice bath with ice and cold water in one large bowl. Fit another small bowl into it with 1 cup of milk in it and a sieve on top.

3. Once the milk mixture has steeped, remove the cobs, scraping any milk that may have gone into the kernel grooves. Add the sugar and honey to the milk. Warm the milk to almost a simmer.

4. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks, salt, vanilla and cinnamon. Add about 1 cup of the warmed milk mixture to the egg mixture whisking constantly. This is tempering and warming the yolks so when you add it back to the milk, you won’t get scrambled eggs. Leave that for Sunday morning.

5. Add the tempered egg and milk mixture back to the pot and continue to stir until it thickens. To check to see if it’s done, see if it coats the back of a wooden spoon. If it does, you’re good!

6. Strain the mixture through the sieve into the cool milk. Let this mixture cool in the water bath. When cool, transfer to a container and chill for 8 hours or overnight until cold.

7. Once the custard is completely cold, add to your ice cream machine and process as per the manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to a freezer safe container and freeze until serving.

8. For the caramelized corn, add the corn, maple syrup, spices and 1 tablespoon of water to a medium saute pan. Cook over medium low heat until the syrup dissolves and the corn is coated with the spices and the syrup’s sticky.

Serving: If you want to freeze it with the corn and raspberries in the ice cream, layer the parts together when you transfer the ice cream to a freezer safe container. On the other hand, and what can give a fresh flavor, when you serve it, layer the parts or just sprinkle the corn and berries on top.

New Amsterdam Market’s Ice Cream Sunday

Ice cream is one of my many food vices. I have a lot of them, and no, I’m not sorry for it, but I honestly, I can’t get enough of the cool, creamy delight that’s only made of a few base ingredients and comes in so many flavors.

Especially when you go to an event like this and see what the many talented ice cream makers are thinking up. Remember when I tweeted that I made corn ice cream? Well that recipe is coming up this week and while it sounds odd, there were 3 places this afternoon that had corn ice cream! 3!

With so many to choose from, my 10 tickets went by quickly, but I’ll recap some of my favorites.

Oh, and the winner? Hay ice cream from Early Bird Cookery. I told you the creativity of these vendors was amazing! I did try it and it was interesting, but in a good way. Earthy and somewhat floral, it was sweeter than you’d expect.

My favorite though was the beet and goat cheese ice cream  beach plum and nectarine sorbet  chocolate cippolini onion ice cream ricotta lemon ice cream from The Bent Spoon. I just love cheese in ice cream.

Gabrielle of The Bent Spoon makes the best ice cream in the most creative flavors. Some that you’d turn your head about- um, chocolate cippolini onion?- but she finds a way to make it taste so craveable. For instance the onions are slowly caramelized for a more molasses-like sweet flavor than a bitter taste and complements the dark chocolate perfectly.

Plus, she’s so nice and passionate about her flavors, even picking beach plums herself for the sorbet. I’m so glad I got to meet her after being a fan of their ice cream from past markets and tweeting with her.

Another worthy mention is La NewYorkina. Now I’m partial to her because she works in the kitchen that I help at every week so I know her personally, but spinning her own Mexican heritage yields some pretty fabulous flavors. The piloncillo was a sugar base ice cream with roasted peaches. Think local, summer and a burnt sugar creme brulee. Mmmm!

Two other great flavors were the peach lavender from KINGLeche Cremes and the mint chocolate chip from Blue Bottle Coffee. The peach was sweet with a floral flavor of the lavendar, not too overpowering, but light and refreshing. It’d be perfect after a great summer meal, sitting on a terrace overlooking the water… if you have access to that kind of thing.

And while mint chocolate chip isn’t the most creative, let me tell you, real mint ice cream is so much better than the green commercial stuff many of us grew up on. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still eat the green stuff (ok, I really haven’t in a long time, but we won’t tell anyone), but the fresh chocolate mint from Lone Acres Farm and the bitter Mast Brothers chocolate was the childhood flavor you’d want as an adult.

Thank you so much to all the vendors for coming out today. I was truly in heaven talking with you all, learning and tasting your products.

Thank you to the New Amsterdam Market as well for putting on this event. I can’t wait until next year’s!

Ice Cream Sunday

Since ice cream is a whole food group for me and a vice for sure, you know where I’ll be this afternoon… (click here to buy tickets!)

Full recap tonight!