No-Cream Creamed Corn
Corn “milk,” not heavy cream—the key to a more flavorful creamed corn. Rather than dilute corn’s grassy sweetness with heavy cream, we rely the corn “milk” from the cob, creating a creamy and velvety puree utilizes corn’s natural starches. (We don’t, however, shy away from butter—luxurious richness that lends classic buttered corn-on-the-cob flavor.)
Mexico’s Sweet Corn Cake
Panque de elote is served in Mexico for breakfast, but we love it equally for dessert and an all-day snack. A cross between corn bread and cake, it calls for no sugar—corn’s natural sweetness, plus sweetened condensed milk, are all that’s needed. And with all of the ingredients coming together in a blender, it’s one of the world’s easiest, lowest-mess dump-and-stir recipes.
Airy Corn Pudding
This sweet corn pudding recipe adapted from Vivian Howard’s “Deep Run Roots” is like an airy, light soufflé. It plays up the delicate sweetness and creamy texture of fresh corn, complimented with sweeter berries and and a dusting of powdered sugar. An instant classic.
Esquites
No corn-off-the-cob round-up would be complete without this national treasure: esquites. “It’s the most delicious thing you can try here in Mexico City,” street vendor overseer Jonathan Herrera told editorial director J.M. Hirsch, as he ladled out a serving of savory-sweet esquites from a cauldron. “A spoonful is an explosion of sweet and creamy corn, tangy citrus, briny cheese and chili heat,” Hirsch wrote. We adapted the recipe to ingredients that are more locally available in the U.S.; of course, best cooked with summer-fresh kernels.
Creamy Corn Pasta
Creamy pasta with corn, not cream! This summery campanelle utilizes sweet corn two ways to infuse the noodles with creamy, grassy sweetness: lessons that have served us well over the years. Inspired by one from Al Forno in Providence, RI, cobs are first boiled in water to enrich the noodles’ flavor, then kernels are grated to tease out a starchy corn “milk” to create a pan sauce that clings to the noodles. One reader points out that it makes a “great base for riffing” (we agree!)
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