Ice Cream Is a Cold, Sweet Way to Show Off Corn Sweet Corn Ice Cream: Melissa Clark demonstrates a sweeter way to use summer corn. Ripe summer corn is as sweet as many of the fruits we habitually make into dessert, but rarely do we see it at the end of the meal. This isn't at all true in Mexico, where corn ice cream is a year-round tradition. Or in Vietnam and Thailand, where the kernels are often stirred into sugary coconut-milk puddings. Or in the Philippines, where they're paired with sweet and milky shaved ice. But here in the United States, the kernels are generally savory fare, even though we use plenty of cornmeal in pastries and cakes. Not so at my house. During the height of corn season, I try to eat as much fresh corn as possible, desserts included. Homemade corn ice cream is a staple, and has been ever since my very first spoonful. That was at Gramercy Tavern in New York, when I was working on a cookbook with Claudia Fleming, then the restaurant's pastry chef. She handed me a taste directly from the ice cream machine and made me guess what it was. The flavor was familiar, but I couldn't place it. Fresh corn, she told me. Like creamed corn, but sweeter and better. To get the most flavor out of the ears, Ms. Fleming steeped both kernels and cobs in hot milk and cream. Then she puréed the kernels before making them into a runny custard. The resulting ice cream was silky smooth and velvety on the tongue. This recipe is based on hers, although I've made a few tweaks, including lightening it up by pulling back on the egg yolks. Since the ice cream itself uses so few ingredients, wait until you can get really good, sweet, plump ears of corn. Taste a kernel before committing yourself. If your ears are on the less sweet side, save them for the savory parts of the meal where it matters a little less. Ms. Fleming, who abides by the mantra "what grows together goes together," sometimes pairs her corn ice cream with blackberry compote. Here, I do too, seasoning the fruit with fragrant lemon verbena, or lemon zest if you can't find the herb. Hint: it's easy to grow, even in a pot on a partly shady deck. Or use the corn ice cream in a hot fudge sundae. Corn and fudge sauce, it turns out, make an excellent combination. But even unadorned, this ice cream deserves to be the golden end of the meal.