Best Ice Cream in the World?

     Well, I've decided on a new career path if this whole medicine thing doesn't work out: I'm opening an ice cream shop. While my sis was visiting, we were lucky enough to sample some ice cream at Jeni's Ice Cream Shop in Columbus, OH. Not only is the ice cream amazing, they let you sample as many flavors as you want before you settle on one or two of them. While at most ice cream places I have no trouble narrowing it down to one or two flavors, this was not the case at Jeni's. How do you pick when you've never tried any of them? I ended up settling on blackberry and sweetcorn ice cream with cherry lambic sorbet, but not before trying 5 or so others, including lavender wild berry and goat cheese with cherries. The blackberry and sweetcorn was rich and creamy (you can taste the sweetcorn, but it's subtle and almost caramel-like) while the cherry lambic was bright and tart with an intense cherry flavor, so I think it made a perfect combo.
     Since I have the best sister in the world, she got me a copy of the cookbook written by the owner of Jeni's so I can make the stuff at home whenever I want to! The book is called Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home and it has about 100 unique ice cream recipes, as well as recipes for sauces, sundaes and cookies to go with your creamy creations. It also has a useful section at the front that talks about ingredients and how to come up with your own recipes. Basically, Jeni Britton Bauer has my dream job- she comes up with crazy, delicious ice creams, writes cookbooks and runs several adorable ice cream shops for a living. I'm really trying not to be jealous.
     I decided to start with the sweetcorn and blackberry, in part because it was delicious, but also in part because everyone made a disgusted faces when I suggested sweetcorn ice cream... yes, it sounded like a challenge to me. It's also hard to get good sweetcorn and blackberries once summer ends (it's already getting more difficult!), so you have to make this one while the ingredients are available. And I didn't want to have to wait till next summer. I didn't change the recipe a lot, but did adjust the milk/ cream ratio based on what I had at home and used a combo of raspberries and blackberries in the sauce- the overall effect was very similar to what I ate in her shop. If you want the original, you can buy the book :-).

Sweetcorn and Black Raspberry Ice Cream (adapted from Jeni's Splendid Ice creams at Home)

Sweetcorn ice cream
-1 ear of corn, husked and silk removed
-1 2/3 c 2% milk
-1 2/3 c heavy cream
-1 Tb plus 1 tsp cornstarch
-1 1/2 oz cream cheese, softened
-1/4 tsp finely ground sea salt
-2/3 c sugar
-2 Tbs light corn syrup

-Cut the kernels off the ear of corn and use the knife to scrape off and remaining corn pieces and liquid. At this point, take a second to try the corn. If it isn't sweet, try a different ear or just make something different.
-Mix about 2 Tbs of milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a "slurry."
-Whisk the cream cheese with the salt in a large bowl, set aside.
-Mix the cream, milk, sugar, corn syrup and corn in a 3 or 4 quart saucepan and place it over medium-high heat. If you use a 3 quart saucepan (as I did), watch it carefully so that it doesn't boil over- it can happen quite quickly- unfortunately, I know this by experience. Bring to a boil and allow it to boil for 4 min.
-Remove the mixture from heat and strain it. Push some of the solids through the strainer, leaving only the corn casts behind. Return to the original saucepan and whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Return to heat and bring back to a boil. Boil (stirring constantly) for about 1 minute, until the mixture thickens slightly.
-Remove from heat and whisk the cream mixture into the cream cheese and salt until smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (place it directly on the surface of the liquid) and place in the fridge for a couple hours until completely chilled.
-Pour the chilled mixture into the ice cream maker and run until the ice cream is thick and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
-Layer the sweet corn ice cream and black raspberry sauce in a freezer-safe container (starting and ending with the sauce) and place wax paper or parchment paper against the surface of the ice cream. Place the container in the freezer and freeze for at least 4 hours.

Blackberry/ Raspberry Sauce
1 c raspberries (frozen or fresh)
1 c blackberries (frozen or fresh)
1 c sugar

-Place fruit and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer until the mixture reaches ~220 degrees (5-10 minutes), stirring occasionally.
-pour the mixture through a seive into a bowl to remove the seeds. Chill in the fridge for at least a couple hours before using. It will not freeze completely, but it will firm up a bit in the freezer when you add it to the ice cream

Cooking with my Favorite Sis!

    One of my favorite shows is Iron Chef, mostly because it's really interesting to see how the chefs use a surprise ingredient (I also like Chopped for this reason), but also because I sometimes get ideas for new dishes from it. This is one of the desserts that was inspired by a Cat Cora dish- she made a "fallen Napoleon" with a Semolina custard, amaretto cookies and figs poached with honey, lemon and cinnamon. Although this is not exactly what I made, I liked the idea of poaching figs with this mixture- almost caramelizing them and allowing them to soak up the flavors. Instead of the fallen Napoleon, I thought this would go well with a greek yogurt panna cotta, since honey and greek yogurt is one of my favorite snacks.
     I have been thinking about this dessert for at least a few weeks, but I waited to make it until my sister, Melissa, came to visit. She went abroad to Greece a couple of summers ago- so I knew that she would love this :-). I was lucky enough to get a visit from her last week, so here we are! This isn't the typical summer dessert (it may be a better dish to serve in the winter), but it would also be good with fresh blueberries and a drizzle of honey if you want something a little more season appropriate. Melissa also came up with the idea to cut the figs in half an arrange in a heart on the top- too cute!

Greek Yogurt Panna Cotta (adapted from Bon Appetit magazine)

-2 Tbs water
-2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
-2 1/2 tsps unflavored gelatin
-2 1/4 c plain whole-milk Greek yogurt
-1 3/4 c heavy whipping cream
-3/4 c sugar
-Canola oil

-Lightly coat the dish(es) you plan to use with canola oil. The recipe recommends a 9" round pan, but I used smaller, individual dishes. You can use whichever you want- just make sure you oil the sides well to allow for easy removal. They make special panna cotta molds- some of which are more fancy, with fluted designs, etc- but I just used some tapered ice cream dishes that I had at home. The most important thing is that the top is wider than the bottom. Otherwise, you won't be able to remove it without scooping it out and messing up the shape.
-Combine the water and lemon juice in a small bowl, mix in the gelatin and allow it to soften (takes about 15 minutes)
-Whisk the yogurt with 3/4 c of the cream in a large bowl.
-Place the remaining 1 c cream and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Stir the cream mixture frequently until the sugar dissolves.
-Remove the pan from heat and whisk in the gelatin mixture until it's dissolved. Then, add this mixture to the yogurt and cream and whisk until well blended.

-Pour the mixture into the prepared dish(es) and place them in the fridge, uncovered, until it they are cool to the touch. Then, cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours. We left them in overnight and they last in the fridge for quite a while (we ate the last one about a week after we'd made it).

After the honey-lemon mixture simmers for a while, the
lemons caramelize and the figs begin to plump up.

Poached Figs (improvised)
-1 c honey
-juice from 1 1/2 lemons
-2 small cinnamon sticks
-dried black figs (~15 will fit in mixture)


-Juice the lemons and discard seeds. Place two of the juiced lemon halves in a small saucepan, add lemon juice, honey and cinnamon sticks. Bring the mixture to a simmer and toss in the figs.
-Simmer the mixture until the figs begin to plump up and the sauce has reduced to a syrup (30 minutes to an hour).
-Allow to cool to room temperature before being poured over the panna cotta or it will melt the gelatin and create a greek yogurt puddle!
-I think next time I will peel the lemon zest in long strips and put it in the mixture instead of the lemon halves- the zest will caramelize as you cook the figs and can be used as a lovely garnish.

Melissa enjoying a cup of hot lemon juice and honey (to soothe
her sore throat) while we waited for the figs to be ready