Sweet Corn Custard, tangy Pickled Peaches, and smooth Honey-Whipped Chèvre create a mix of flavors that feels both comforting and exciting.
Why Add Pickled Peaches?
This one is a certified summer hit. There are few things more purely joyful than a perfect farmers’ market peach — and pickling them? An absolute game-changer. When I first served these, someone looked up mid-bite and said, “Why aren’t more people pickling peaches?” The corn custard is light and versatile enough to work as an appetizer or a main. The whipped chèvre just ties the whole beautiful thing together.
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Corn Custard with Pickled Peaches and Honey-Whipped Chevre
- Yield: Serves 8
Description
This Corn Custard is creamy, sweet, and full of fresh summer flavor.
Ingredients
Scale
For the corn custard:
- 4 ears corn
- 1 pt heavy cream
- 2 whole eggs
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup crème fraîche or sour cream
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the pickled peaches:
- 4 firm ripe medium peaches
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 6 whole cloves
- 2 strips lemon zest
- 1 tsp black peppercorns, slightly bruised (optional)
For the honey-whipped chèvre:
- 16 oz goat cheese, softened
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 2–4 tbsp hot honey, plus more for drizzling on top
- Thyme, to taste
Instructions
For the corn custard:
- Cut the kernels off the corn and set aside. Chop or break up the cobs into smaller pieces, place in a small stainless steel pot, and cover with the heavy cream. Bring to a simmer and cook over the lowest possible heat for 1 hour.
- Strain the cream and discard the cobs. Return the cream to the pot with the corn kernels. The cream should have reduced to 11/2 cups. Season with salt and pepper.
- Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.
- Purée in a blender and strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Let the corn purée cool to room temperature before proceeding.
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Add corn purée into a bowl. Whisk in the eggs, egg yolks, and crème fraîche. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Divide the custard into buttered ramekins. Six 6-oz ramekins or eight 4-oz ramekins work well. You can also use a silicon mold to make smaller bites.
- Place the ramekins in a baking dish with a little space between each one. Pour very hot water into the baking dish until it comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
- Loosely cover the dish and bake for 30 minutes, or until the custard no longer jiggles in the center.
- Remove the custards from the water bath. Let cool briefly, then refrigerate until completely chilled.
For the pickled peaches:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Prepare a bowl of ice water.
- Blanch the peaches in the boiling water for 1-2 minutes, then transfer to the ice water to cool.
- Peel the peaches. The peels should come right off. If not, use a peeler with a serrated swivel blade to remove them.
- Cut the peaches in half if they are too large to fit in the jar.
- Combine the vinegar, water, sugar, cinnamon sticks, cloves, lemon zest, and peppercorns in a non-reactive saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
- Decrease the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Poach 3-4 peaches at a time in the syrup for 2 minutes.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer the peaches to the jars.
- Fill the jars with the hot syrup, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.
- Distribute the cinnamon sticks, cloves, and lemon zest among the jars.
- Cover the jars with tight lids and let cool to room temperature. Once cool, the peaches can be refrigerated for up to a week.
For the honey-whipped chèvre:
- Add goat cheese, cream cheese, hot honey, and thyme to a food processor.
- Process until smooth.
To serve:
- Pipe the chèvre on top of the corn custards.
- Slice or dice the pickled peaches and place directly on the custard. Drizzle with more hot honey before serving.
Recipe by Marijke Uleman
Photography by Tira Howard
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