It seems that some things I bake just never find their way onto the blog. I’ve baked Christina Tosi’s Blueberry and Corn Sheet Cake numerous times, and my mom has made it as well. It’s become a well-known cake in our family. But it’s always been eaten too fast, or just never been photographed. It still hasn’t, technically. This is the ice-cream-cake-ified version of that recipe, subbing out the sour cream frosting for sour cream ice cream, and adding in some strawberry sauce as well. It’s just as delicious as the original cake. Someday I’ll photograph the original cake for the blog. But until then, here’s some Corn, Blueberry and Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream Cake.
4th of July was, tragically, rainy for most of the day, leading to the fireworks being postponed (even though the weather cleared up by the evening). But we still got the whole family together, and we ate hot dogs, corn on the cob. and potato salad. We finally made a small dent in the beer in the fridge. But I also made the mistake of thinking this cake could be frozen in just a few hours! I was wrong. It was a bit sloppy and melty on the actual holiday.
C’est la vie I suppose. I learned I should have made this a day in advance. The city hopefully learned that it shouldn’t trust even a 12 hour Midwestern forecast, and shouldn’t cancel the fireworks until later.
The good thing is that the constituent parts all taste great, whether they’re frozen or melty. A slop made up of these ingredients is still good. But it certainly looks better and closer to the vision I had when it’s actually frozen, and it’s nice to be able to break out the layers when you eat it. So if you make this, prep it the day before.
This year I made a very simple “Summer Bucket List” – a la elementary school – of very achievable things to do to make the most of the season. It felt like it might be a way to fight the feeling that summer just slips away as an adult. No one at work would care if I went in one day in August and tried to show them my tan lines to prove I had a Really Great Summer (as people did in elementary school). But *I* will know I did, because I have a summer bucket list with things like “drink an ICEE” and “go to the Zoo” crossed off!
Admittedly lots of the things on my list were food related (sue me). But it included making an ice cream cake – so, one achievable summer bucket list item accomplished!
After stopping by the library the other day, I’m wondering if next year I should create my own “Summer Reading Challenge.” Come up with a plan to track the number of pages I read, and then instituting some sort of prize incentive at each milestone. It might not hold the exact same magic of reporting the books you’ve read to get free prizes and mystery bags that inevitably contained silly putty, but… I could make the prizes up myself and guarantee they’d be great. And maybe of a slightly higher caliber than silly putty.
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PinIngredients
1 recipe Blueberry Sauce
1 recipe Strawberry Sauce
1 recipe Sour Cream Ice Cream
1 recipe Corn Cake
1 recipe Corn Crumb
For decorating:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons granulated or powdered sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
Sprinkles and decoration of choice
Instructions
- Prepare cake, crumb, and sauces, and allow to cool completely.
- Using your springform pan as a guide, cut out two layers of cake (or as close to two as you can). The scraps will be used for the middle layer.
- Prepare the ice cream and start freezing in your ice cream maker.
- Put a layer of parchment on the bottom of your springform pan. Layer one layer of cake, one of the sauces and crumb. When the ice cream is ready, scoop out half and spread out a layer. Drizzle more sauce and crumb, and then put straight into the freezer. Transfer the remain ice cream into a container and put in the freezer.
- After about 30 minutes, remove from the freezer, and repeat: a layer of cake (this layer is good to use the scrap for – you don’t have to press down too hard. Then the other sauce, crumb, and ice cream. Put the last layer of cake on top and put it back into the freezer.
- Freeze overnight.
- If desired, prepare whipped cream by beating heavy whipping cream and sugar until stiff peaks form. Add in 1/4 cup sour cream and keep beating.
- Release cake from springform pan, and spread whipped cream on top or all around the sides. Decorate as desired.
- Put back in the freezer until ready to serve.
Ingredients
1 (16-ounces) container chilled sour cream
1 cup chilled half-and-half
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup chilled heavy cream
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together with a blender until mixture is smooth and sugar has dissolved. Chill until very cold.
- Freeze mixture in ice cream maker. Use immediately in this recipe, or transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to firm up, about 6 hours.
Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
4½ cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
⅔ cup grapeseed or other neutral oil
1½ cups cake flour
1¼ cups corn powder
¼ cup plus 1½ tablespoons corn flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Grease two quarter-sheet pans with nonstick cooking spray and line them with parchment paper, or just line them with silicone baking mats.
- Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl halfway through this process, and again at the end of it.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating on medium-high for 1 minute after each addition. After you add the last egg, scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat on high for 4 more minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again.
- Combine the buttermilk and oil, and with the mixer on medium speed, stream them into the batter very slowly. It should take you approximately 3 minutes to add these liquids. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, increase the mixer speed to medium-high, and paddle for an additional 2-3 minutes, until the mixture is practically white, twice the size of your original fluffy butter-and-sugar mixture, and completely homogeneous. Don’t rush the process. You’re basically forcing too much liquid into an already fatty mixture that doesn’t want to make room for that liquid. There should be no streaks of fat or liquid. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Whisk together the cake flour, corn powder, corn flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
- With the mixer on very low speed, slowly add the dry mixture and mix for 45-60 seconds, just until your batter comes together. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then mix for an additional 45 seconds to make sure no lumps of flour or powder get left behind.
- Divide the batter evenly between two quarter-sheet pans or 1 half sheet pan and, using a spatula, spread the cake batter into even layers.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, rotating the pans front to back halfway through baking. The cakes will rise and puff, doubling in size, but will remain slightly buttery and dense. At 30 minutes, gently poke the edge of each cake with your finger, the cakes should bounce back slightly and the centers should no longer be jiggly. If they don’t pass these tests, leave the cakes in the oven for an additional 3-5 minutes.
- Let the cakes cool in the pans on a wire rack or, in a pinch, in the fridge or freezer. The cooled cakes can be stored in the fridge, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 5 days.
Ingredients
1½ teaspoons cornstarch
1½ teaspoons water
½ lemon
12 ounces blueberries
¼ cup sugar
⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together the cornstarch and water to make a slurry.
- Juice the lemon into a small saucepan and add the slurry, blueberries, sugar and salt. Bring everything to a boil over medium heat.
- Reduce the heat to low and continue cooking until the blueberries blister and the mixture turns dark blue, 5-6 minutes. The blueberries should still maintain their shape and not break down completely.
- Cool the sauce before using. The sauce will keep in the refrigerator, in an airtight container, for up to 2 weeks.
- Repeat recipe again, subbing strawberries for blueberries
Ingredients
2/3 cup milk powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons corn powder
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 250°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Combine the milk powder, flour, cornstarch, corn powder, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Toss to mix. Add the melted butter and toss, using a spatula, until the mixture starts to come together and form small clusters.
- Spread the clusters on the lined sheet pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. The crumbs should be sandy, but still clumped together, just starting to brown around the edges, and your kitchen should smell like buttery heaven. Cool the crumbs completely. The crumbs will keep in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer for up to 1 month.