Caramel Corn on the Cob Ice Cream

I mentioned yesterday that I went to 12 different ice cream shops this summer. My favorite one, hands down, was Salt & Straw. I got a huge waffle cone there with Caramel Corn on the Cob on top, and Salty Malty Cookie Dough on the bottom. Because which flavor goes on top and which goes on the bottom is very important and if anyone tries to tell you it isn’t you should question going to ice cream shops with them.

I have had, and made, corn ice cream on a few occasions, but it never was this amazing. One of the keys is brown butter, and the other is using a nice salty caramel that makes you think of caramel corn as you eat it but never fully hides the fresh corn flavor.

Steep the corn and the cobs for a half hour to infuse the milk with the flavor.

Homemade caramel starting to turn the perfect shade.

This was my janky setup to film the recipe video, but it worked pretty well!

Good old liquid nitrogen.

Finally stir in the caramel.

I love this ice cream! And topping it with fresh popcorn was a nice touch.

Taking pics of ice cream is hard because you get it all over yourself.

This ice cream came out just as I remembered it at Salt & Straw, so it was a big success! Check the video below to see the whole process in action.

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Caramel Corn on the Cob Ice Cream

A recreation of and homage to the best ice cream I tasted all summer, Caramel Corn on the Cob from Salt & Straw in Los Angeles

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time40 minutes mins

Chilling/freezing3 hours hrs

Total Time3 hours hrs 50 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Sweets

Servings: 1 quart

Ingredients

Ice Cream

• 1/2 stick butter
• 4 cobs corn
• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups milk powder
• salt

Caramel

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• salt

Instructions

Ice Cream

• Cut the corn off the cobs and chop each cob into 4 pieces.
• Brown the butter in a pan until just lightly golden brown.
• Add the corn to the butter along with a pinch of salt and cook for 2 minutes while stirring.
• Add the milk and cream, along with the cob chunks. Bring to a simmer. Simmer for a half hour.
• Strain out the corn with a mesh strainer.
• Whisk in the milk powder and sugar.
• Chill fully, then freeze according to your ice cream machine manufacturers instructions.

Caramel

• Mix the sugar and water and bring to a simmer. Stir until all the sugar is dissolved and then don’t stir anymore.
• When the sugar mixture turns a nice medium to dark brown remove from heat and pour in cream. Allow to bubble and cool for 30 seconds before stirring it all together. Add in some salt to taste.
• You want the caramel to cool to at least room temp before adding to a fairly solid ice cream so it retains a ripple or ribbons and doesn’t dissolve into the ice cream.