Squash Cake with Sweet-Corn Gelato Recipe

Makes 1 loaf

Butter or nonstick cooking spray for preparing pan
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups shredded ‘Tromboncino’ squash or zucchini
1 can (8 ounces) crushed pineapple, well drained
¾ cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
Sweet-Corn Gelato, see below

Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease an 8½-by-4½-inch loaf pan with butter or nonstick cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. In another bowl, with an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar together until light and fluffy, then add oil and vanilla and continue beating until creamy. Fold in squash or zucchini, crushed pineapple, and nuts, if using. Add dry ingredients and stir until combined. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake until top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 1 hour. Allow to cool completely on a rack before removing from pan. Serve cake with Sweet-Corn Gelato.

Sweet-Corn Gelato

The chef paired the cake with a gelato featuring ‘Who Gets Kissed?,’ a new sweet corn bred by Bill Tracy of the University of Wisconsin”“Madison.

Makes 8 servings. (2½ quarts)

10 ears sweet corn
1 quart whole milk
1 quart heavy cream
20 egg yolks
1 rounded cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon xanthan gum, such as Bob’s Red Mill brand

1. In a large bowl, cut corn kernels off cobs, then use the back of a knife to scrape cobs of remaining liquid. Using a vegetable juicer, juice corn kernels and liquid. With a fine sieve, strain corn juice, discarding any solids. Measure out 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of corn juice and set aside.

2. Fill a large bowl with ice and set aside. In a medium pan over medium-high heat, scald milk, cream, and reserved corn juice; remove from heat. In a separate bowl, whisk together yolks and sugar until sugar dissolves and mixture becomes paler in color; whisk in salt and xanthan gum. Slowly add 1 cup of scalded-milk mixture into yolk mixture, whisking constantly, then add all of remaining milk mixture, whisking to combine. Return milk-yolk mixture to pot and cook over medium-low heat until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, 5 to 7 minutes. Pour custard into a bowl and place in reserved ice bath; allow to cool completely. Transfer to an ice-cream maker and process according to manufacturer’s instructions.

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