Make Ahead

Maple, Cornmeal, Pepper Ice Cream Cones

by:
April 28, 2011
5
3 Ratings
  • Serves 4 - 5
Author Notes

After graduating this summer I'll fly to home the US and stay for a year before I come back home to study in Switzerland.

I plan on enjoying the early Summer in Switzerland with my friends before I leave. We'll sleep outside in our gardens and eat ice cream cones late at night, our elbows propped up on grass stained pillows.

I hope they'll remember this ice cream even if they don't drip and stain their sleeping bags with it. Maple syrup, cornmeal and pecans will have me in my sleeping bag dreaming of Native American food and have my friends dreaming of visiting me in the US.

This is meant to be eaten outside. Fresh air and no ice cream dishes to rinse bring out maple syrup's woody undertones. No, really. The ice cream is silky with a crunch from the cornmeal and the spiced cones.

Stir a few grinds of pink peppercorns into the churning ice cream if you have some and like their flowery taste.

The ice cream recipe is adapted from Jon Snyder of Il Laboratorio Del Gelato's recipe for milk gelato. - h.c.r. —HCR

Test Kitchen Notes

Making your own ice cream cones is a wonderfully fun memory to share and pass on. H.c.r.'s egg-free ice cream has a nice subtle maple flavor that pairs well with the peppery and nutty cones. I used finely ground cornmeal and loved it, but would be curious to see the textural effects of using a coarser grind. - biffbourgeois —Stephanie Bourgeois

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Maple Cornmeal Ice Cream
  • 1 1/2 cups cream
  • 2 1/2 cups milk
  • 7 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 6 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cornmeal (finely ground works well)
  • Pepper Pecan Cornmeal Cones
  • 1/4 cup soft butter
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • a pinch of salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 egg whites, at room temperature
  • 4 tablespoons flour
  • 2 scant tablespoons cornmeal (finely ground works well)
  • 4 tablespoons finely chopped pecans, toasted
Directions
  1. Maple Cornmeal Ice Cream
  2. Heat the cream and 1 1/2 cups of milk while stirring and dissolving the cornstarch in the remaining 1 cup of milk.
  3. Stir the dissolved cornstarch and milk and all the remaining ingredients into the heated cream and milk. Stirring constantly, bring the mixture to a boil and let it thicken, about 8 minutes.
  4. Strain and let cool. Then refrigerate until well chilled for 2 - 3 hours.
  5. If the mixture is very thick it may be whisked to enable pouring it into the ice cream maker. Freeze according to the instructions for your ice cream maker. Add ground pink peppercorns to the ice cream while churning if you like.
  1. Pepper Pecan Cornmeal Cones
  2. Preheat the oven to 425°F and butter and flour a baking sheet that will not flex. Roll aluminum foil into a cone that is 6 or so inches long and has a 2 or 3 inch diameter at the top.
  3. Whisk butter, sugar, lemon juice, salt and pepper until fluffy.
  4. Whisk in the egg whites.
  5. Whisk in the flour and cornmeal just until evenly combined.
  6. The recipe makes enough batter for about five 5-inch circles. Shape these with the back of a spoon, spreading the batter smoothly and thinly onto the baking sheet. Sprinkle each circle with pecans and grind some extra pepper onto the circles if you like.
  7. Bake in the center of the oven for 6 - 7 minutes, rotating halfway, or until the cookies begin to brown. Immediately after removing them from the oven, wrap the cookies around the foil cone and prop them on a rack until cool. If the cookies harden before you manage to shape them you can briefly return them to the oven and they should soften again.
  8. Gently nestle a scoop of ice cream into the cones and dust with cornmeal and pepper.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • wssmom
    wssmom
  • Cook the Story
    Cook the Story
  • HCR
    HCR
HCR

Recipe by: HCR

I have interned in pastry, but am not planning to pursue baking professionally. I find food that looks as good as it tastes very cool... as long as it tastes good.

3 Reviews

HCR June 11, 2011
Glad you liked it when testing and I wish I could send you two some to try...
 
wssmom May 5, 2011
I never thought of making my own cones! Congrats on the Editor's Pick, and what a lovely headnote ....
 
Cook T. May 5, 2011
These cones sound so ridiculously good. I love maple with savory foods and so the idea of a maple ice cream on a peppery cone makes me happy right down to my toes.

Congrats on the Editor's Pick!