Sweet Corn Ice Cream is made with fresh corn, then served with a salted caramel sauce. This is the perfect homemade summer ice cream!
If you love the salted caramel in this sweet corn ice cream, then you also need to try this Salted Caramel Ice Cream with Fudge and Toasted Coconut.
What is the strangest flavor of ice cream you’ve ever had? Are you a plain chocolate or vanilla person, or do you look for something a little bit different??
At the beginning of the summer, I was flipping through my copy of Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine. And there I saw something that I wanted.
Right then.
Caramel Corn Ice Pops.
I had never had sweet corn ice cream, but these ice pops made from sweet corn ice cream with a caramel center just called out to me. And so I made them. And I had some issues. They didn’t work out completely for me, but I still loved the idea. I mean, who doesn’t love caramel corn? Sure, corn isn’t your typical ice cream flavor, but it’s naturally sweet, so it’s only natural that it would make a good ice cream. The good thing about those failed ice pops is that I knew that I loved the flavors, I just had to figure out how to make it work for me.
And thankfully, this recipe did work for me!! It wasn’t as creamy as I was hoping for, but YUM. The sweet corn ice cream on it’s own was delicious, but add in the salted caramel sauce and it was completely divine.
And really, if you served this ice cream to someone that didn’t know there was corn in it, they probably wouldn’t be able to put their finger on the flavor. But once you know it’s there, there is definitely a distinctive corn flavor. I loved every bite of it! Move over, plain vanilla ice cream – there is a new favorite in town!!
Ingredients
Make sure to scroll down to the recipe card below to see the full ingredient list and amounts.
For the Ice Cream
- Corn: Ideally, you will want fresh corn. But frozen corn will also work. I wouldn’t use canned corn.
- Half & Half and Milk: The original recipe is made with both half & half and milk. For a richer, smoother ice cream, you can use cream instead of milk.
- Sugar: This is granulated sugar.
- Salt: The salt will help to balance the flavors.
- Egg Yolks: The egg yolks will give you richness and help with the stability of the ice cream. They also help to give you a nice, thick ice cream.
For the Salted Caramel:
- Butter: I normally use unsalted butter, but since this is salted caramel, salted butter will also totally work.
- Sugar: You need granulated sugar.
- Vanilla: A good vanilla extract will give you the best flavor.
- Salt: I like to use a coarse salt – usually Kosher salt. You don’t want to use table salt for this.
Tips and Tricks
You can eat this straight from the ice cream machine, but it will be more like a soft serve. Freeze for a harder ice cream.
I was hoping for beautiful ribbons of caramel that showed through in the ice cream, but my caramel was still too warm when I incorporated it, so make sure you make the caramel sauce plenty of time ahead of the ice cream!
You can also skip adding the caramel to the ice cream, and just serve it all alongside.
More Frozen Treats
Mango Sorbet
Toasted Coconut Ice Cream
Red Velvet Ice Cream Cake
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Sweet Corn Ice Cream with Salted Caramel
Ingredients
For the ice cream:
- 2 cups corn kernels
- 1 cup half and half
- 2 cups milk
- 2/3 cup sugar
- dash of salt
- 3 large egg yolks
For the salted caramel sauce:
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
Instructions
- Combine the corn and the half and half in a food processor and process until smooth. Pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve over a large bowl. Reserve the liquid and discard the solids.
- Add the 2 cups of milk, sugar, salt, and egg yolks to the liquid. Whisk all together well, then pour into a large saucepan.
- Cook the mixture over medium heat until thick, but don’t let it boil and stir constantly. This should take about 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.
- Let the mixture cool for 20 minutes, then cover and transfer to the refrigerator to cool completely. (This is best if you let it sit overnight.)
- Meanwhile, to make the caramel, melt the butter in a large saucepan. Stir in the sugar and cook, stirring frequently, until the sugar is a deep golden brown.
- Remove from the heat and carefully whisk in half of the cream. (Be careful – it will splatter!)
- Stir in the rest of the cream, the vanilla, and the salt.
- (If there are any lumps at this point, return the pan to low heat and whisk until they are dissolved.)
- Let the caramel cool to room temperature, then place in the refrigerator.
- Once the custard is completely chilled, remove the caramel from the refrigerator to come to room temperature.
- Place the custard in an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacture’s instructions. Once done, stir in about 1 cup of the caramel sauce, then place the ice cream in the freezer to finish freezing.
- Serve the ice cream with the remaining caramel sauce.
Recipe Notes:
Salted Caramel from The Perfect Scoop Nutrition information provided as an estimate only. Various brands and products can change the counts. Any nutritional information should be used as a general guide.
Jenn says
I made this today on a whim – leftover corn on the cob from a BBQ was my stand-in corn – and it’s surprisingly good. Not “oh, this isn’t as bad as I would have suspected”, more like “this is awesomely good and I’m not sharing”. Thanks for the fun recipe.
I used 1.5 cup heavy cream and 1.5 cup 1% milk. The texture is good, though my husband (less of a fan than I am) says it’s gritty.
Maria | Pink Patisserie says
I’ve been dying to try this ice cream this summer. Yours is gorgeous! And with the salted caramel, off the hook!
Carolyn says
I’ve had corn ice cream, but have never made it. The “giveaway” is usually a husk that gets caught in your teeth 🙂
My husband is Dominican and this is very, very popular there. So I will be making this for his upcoming BD and won’t he be surprised.
TY, looks really awesome!
Carolyn
Julia says
I’ve seen it before and have wanted to make it, but haven’t. Not gonna lie, the addition of caramel on top has pushed me over the edge, I NEED to make it, no excuses this year 😉
Desi says
That really sounds amazing. I love salted caramel on anything. I bet that sweet corn ice cream is such a perfect summer treat! So unique!
grace says
i saw this last year and was obviously intrigued. the first chance i get to taste it, i’m gonna–it sounds so interesting and complex! i love your touch of adding caramel sauce–makes it even better. 🙂