Corn Paletas? What kind of weird sorcery is this? When you think about it a little bit, it makes total sense. We tend to associate corn with savory, but what about corn muffins and corn bread. Corn can also be sweet. Corn is sweet, so why not make paletas out of it.
I didn't come up with this myself though. Corn is a common flavor in the paleterias of Michoacan and Central Mexico, where you can find ice cream as well as paletas. The first time I had one I was a little thrown off by the visible chunks of corn, but the flavor won me out at the end. Kind of like the first time I had Korean shaved ice with sweet red beans. You will have to make them in order to decide whether you like them or not. One of my kids loved them, and the other hated them.
Cooking Mexican food in Hawaii hasn't been to difficult. I have been able to find most of what I need at the regular grocery store, but dried chiles eluded me. I had to drive 40 minutes to the one Mexican grocery store in all of Oahu to find them. It turned out to be a little hole in the wall shop, and it became instantly smaller as soon as I brought my two kids in there. They were touching everything and running around like the crazy kids that they are. The lady, who I assume was the owner, was very nice, but I could tell she was worried about her livelihood with my kids in there. I picked up some dry chiles, spices, and some Mexican candy and ran out as quick as I could. It was a hot sticky day, so I bought two Jumex juices for the kids and we sat outside the shop to drink them. What is your favorite paleta flavor?
The Recipe: Corn Paletas
This recipe for corn paletas takes all the sweet goodness of corn and transforms it into a an icy treat, and they are super easy to make. I used almond milk to make these paletas, but you can use coconut milk for a more decadent version. If this is your first time making these I would recommend pureeing the mixture until it is completely smooth and straining it. Once you decide if you like them or not you can play around with the texture. Enjoy!
Corn Paletas
Ingredients
- 4 ears corn (3 cups corn kernels)
- 3 cups soy milk, unsweetened
- ⅔ -3/4 cup granulated sugar or other vegan sweetener
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Cut the kernels off of the corn, but reserve the cobs. You should have about 3 cups of kernels.
- Place corn kernels, corn cobs, and sugar in a large pot. Bring to a simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and let steep for 15 more minutes. Remove the cobs and place the corn milk in the blender, process until smooth. (You can leave chunky if that is your preference.)
- Transfer corn milk to a container and add salt. Let cool completely in the fridge.
- Pour into popsicle molds and freeze for 5 hours.
Used this recipe as inspiration to make "ice cream" in the Ninja Creami. Beyond expectations - So good! Since I didn't have fresh corn, I only used two cups of soymilk when simmering. Also, used four medjool dates instead of sugar and added a tsp of vanilla powder. Thank you!
Never would have thought about this, but it totally makes sense. Thanks for sharing!