Martin Heuser, an eighth generation chef, grew up in Bonn, Germany, where corn is eaten, but not a traditional part of the cuisine. He grew to appreciate fresh, local corn as an ingredient when he lived in Canada.
"For me, corn is summertime," Heuser said it adds another component and flavor to a dish.
At his restaurant Affäre in the Crossroads, he features it in special recipes when it's in season.
This dessert, Blueberries and Corn, is a corn sponge cake with blueberry mousse, blueberry compote, blueberry and basil ice cream, all sprinkled with cornmeal crumble. The recipe was developed by Affäre pastry chef Kathryn Razlaff.
Corn Sponge Cake
- 85 grams egg whites
- 40 grams yolks
- 22 grams sugar
- 50 grams corn milk
- 25 grams flour
- 1 cup corn kernels
- 1 corn cob, chopped
To make corn milk, warm milk on the stove with kernels and chopped up corn cob for about 15 minutes. Blend corn milk and strain. Add milk to other ingredients and whisk to make smooth batter, with no lumps. Coat a cardboard cup with cooking spray and make three holes in the bottom. Fill it halfway and microwave for 1 minute and 15 seconds.
Corn Meal Crumble
- 1/2 cup flour
- 3 tablespoons cornmeal
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon salt
Mix everything and bake at 350 degrees.
Blueberry Compote
- 10.5 ounces blueberries
- 1.5 ounces sugar
- 0.5 ounces water
- 2 grams cornstarch
- 4 grams water
Blueberry Basil Sorbet
- 1 pound simple syrup
- 1 pound 6 ounces blueberry
- 2 handfulls basil, chopped
- 4 grams stabilizer
Cook down.
Blueberry Cream
- 1 cup blueberry puree
- 1 gelatin sheet
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 7 grams cornstarch
- 4 ounces cream, whipped
- 1/2 ounce sugar
Cook and chill first the four ingredients. Whip cream and sugar.
