Sweetcorn Ice~Cream




Remember that Ice-cream man that went round the kampung (village) on his 3 wheeler, lugging his mobile freezer with him? Do you remember how ice-cream was served in those days? And do you still remember how many varieties were there, in his freezer? Was Sweetcorn Ice-cream, one of your favourites?

Oh Yes....I remembered very clearly, Mr Ice-cream man...
He would cycle his 3 wheeler around the village with an air horn tied up to his tricycle handle bar. He would blared up the air horn in a rhythmic 'toot...' and at the same time he'd shout out 'Ice-Cream.. Ice-cream... Ice-cream' as he made his 'grand' entrance... It was a melodious sound to my ear and an occassion I always look forward to.

Whenever I hear him miles away... I would be frantically scrounge for coins... or if we were good  and not drive my mom up the wall with our siblings "banter"... ehem... we weren't always naughty, we would get a treat...

There were limited choices of ice-cream then... its either vanilla, chocolate, neapolitan or strawberry flavoured ice-creams.

Sweetcorn Ice-cream was introduced much later... It was one of 'Malaysian-ised' flavoured ice-creams... It came in box packaging, Mr Ice-cream man would cut the ice-cream into sizeable little rectangular pieces... hence it is known as Ice-cream Potong (potong means cut) ...served these delicious creamy treat between 2 thin wafers... and in some kampungs (village)... the ice-creams was sandwiched between 2 slices of white bread.

We would savour these sweet creamy ice-cream..with every lick ... trying very hard not to spill... but living in a humid and hot country... most of the time it would ended up Splat!!! on our dresses or on the floor... the wafer became soggy and soft.

This happened to be one of my favourite ice-cream flavours.... it was then and still is..

My kids had tasted the store-bought Sweetcorn ice-cream... back in the days when we were in Kuala Lumpur... but it comes in a 2 litre tub... there was no Ice-cream vendor cycling around the suburb 'tooting' the air horn... and definitely not being served with 2 thin wafers ...

Recipe (serve 6-8)

300 ml milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

150g sugar

3 egg yolks

250ml canned creamed corn

300ml whipping cream

1. Pour milk in heavy saucepan, add vanilla and bring to almost boil.
2. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Place egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk until pale and the mixture leaves a trail when the whisk is lifted.
4. Slowly add milk into the egg and sugar mixture.
5. Keep stirring all the time.
6. Strain the mixture into another clean heatproof bowl.
7. Using double boil method, cook the mixture until its thickened.
8. Remove the custard from heat and leave it to cool.
9. Add in creamed corn.
10. Whipped the cream until it holds its shape. Keep in the refrigerator.
11. Using Ice-cream machine, fold the whipped cream into the custard. Churn according to manufacterers' instruction.
12. Freeze for at least 2 hours before serving.

Chocolate Fudge Ice-Cream

Our routine has gone haywire eversince we decided to put our house, up for sale in late November last year. There were so much work involved... moving belongings and  furnitures, selling old furnitures, cleaning, vacumming, scrubbing and weeding from top to bottom, inside and outside, week in week out... until the house is sold... all that 'exercise' has left us exhausted... physically and mentally.

Finally.. that chapter is over..
I can take a long deep breath, drawing in as much O₂as my lungs could take.

Its nice to wake up to a less stressful mornings, not having to think about 'things' that needed immediate attention like lawn needed mowing, lawn is not 'green' enough, leaves strewn everywhere... this and that not working and bla bla bla...
We wanted the new owner (whoever it might be...) to move in and have the same 'warm feeling' as we did when we first moved in ... a good indication that the house is very much loved and well looked after...
I dont think I'll ever want to go through 'selling house' again!!!

Due to the above factor, I didnt have time to either plan or cook or bake anything special for H's and D's birthdays (and mine too) .
I owe you, both (plus myself...) .

D wanted an ice-cream cake but I was unable to do so...
Then he asked for 'White Cake' like I used to bake him 10 years ago.... sssshhhh....at that time, I cheated and used 'Betty Crocker's' .... and I did bake him...
But it turned out to be ONE lousy 'White Cake' with horrible frosting... so I won't consider that as baking... as I didn't put in much thought and effort...

Guilt ridden Mom ... plus his birthday and mine was only days apart... I decided to try and make up for the 'lousy' cake with Chocolate Fudge Ice-cream...
Everything was good... peachy rosy hunky dory... leaving the tub of ice-cream in the freezer overnight...
Then came the crunch ~ SCOOPING...
Phew!!!... I nearly sprained my wrist... It was as hard as block of ice... no good trying to scoop and sawing didn't do any good either.
Panic and was a bit upset with the outcome ... I SOS on Twitter for help... Pickyin of Life is Great answered my SOS. Pickyin suggested that I leave it out on the bench for awhile and wait for it to soften... then it occurred to me... turned around and looked at my freezer temperature... it was set at -22C, anything would be like a block of ice at  that temperature... doh!!! immediately I increased the temperature to -16C ...

and what do you know...

My Chocolate Fudge Ice-cream was as soft and scoopable as the store-bought tubs...

Kids were pleased .... it didn't stay 'frozen' for long in my freezer...

Recipe (serve 4-6) (fr Love Food ~ Ice-cream Summer Eating)

300 ml milk
100g dark chocolate
25g butter
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
125g caster sugar
75g golden syrup
4 eggs
300ml whipping cream

1. Pour 175ml milk into a heavy based pan.
2. Break chocolate into milk and add butter and vanilla essence, heat gently and keep stirring all the time until the butter and chocolate melted and smooth.
3. Add in sugar and golden syrup, turn up the heat and bring the mixture to boil.
4. Reduce the heat and simmer for approximately 4 minutes.
5. Remove from stove and leave it aside to cool.
6. Beat eggs in a mixing bowl and slowly add the chocolate mixture, stirring all the time. 
7. Strain the mixture into a heatproof bowl.
8. Using a double boil method, cook the mixture over low heat until the mixture thicken (consistency~ until the mixture coat the back of the spoon). Note: Do not allow the mixture to boil.
9. Remove the custard from heat and stir in the remaining milk and cream.
10. Leave to cool and stirring from time to time to prevent 'skin' forming.
11. Using Ice-cream maker, churn the mixture according to the manufacturer's instructions.
12. Freeze for at least 2 hours before serving.

Guest Post #4 ~ Kuih Spera

I was so thrilled when I received Pepy’s invite to be her guest post late last year, however due to my tight schedule I was unable to fulfill my part of the bargain immediately.

3 months later and here I am…

Thank you Pepy for the invite and my big Thank you, hugs and kisses for being so patience and understanding…

I invite you to Pepy's Indonesia Eats...to read the rest of my post (click here)

and while you are there... do check out her mouthwatering Indonesian cuisine...

Enjoy ...