Momofuku Milk Bar's Cereal Milk Ice Cream

We are heading up to NYC next month to catch a screening of The Master as early as one not attending Venice Film Festival can and, naturally, are going to be wedging in some great food around the main event. Having never been to any of the Momofuku establishments, I was browsing their menus and stumbled across Cereal Milk Ice Cream in the Milk Bar menu. I was absolutely delighted with the concept and decided that I couldn't wait until September, so I tried my hand at churning some out myself with their recipe which I found online here. As with nearly every Momofuku recipe I've seen, it's uh, involved, but eminently rewarding. This is quite simply one of the best ice creams I've ever made. I'm going to try it with Lucky Charms next time - Lucky Charms produces the finest of cereal milks.

Cereal Milk Ice Cream
Makes about 3 1/2 cups

*10 cups corn flakes
*1/2 cup powdered milk
*4 tablespoons sugar
*1/2 teaspoon salt
*1 1/2 sticks butter, melted
*4 cups whole milk
*1 cup heavy cream
*1/2 cup sugar
*Pinch of salt
*1 teaspoon vanilla extract
*4 large egg yolks

Heat the oven to 275. Put the cornflakes in a large mixing bowl and crush them with your hands a few times. Stir the milk powder, sugar and salt together in a smaller bowl and add to the cornflakes with the melted butter, tossing to combine. Spread the cornflakes out on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper and bake for about 35 minutes, or until deeply caramelized. Let cool to room temperature.

Here's where it helps to have a small kitchen scale: combine 14 oz of the caramelized cornflakes and the milk in a large mixing bowl and let steep for an hour in the fridge. Set the rest of the cornflakes aside. Fair warning: this next part is gonna be gory. Strain the milk from the cornflake mush as well as you can. For me, this involved several laborious steps in which I squeezed milk out of gobs of the soggy mash through cheesecloth, and then strained that milk through a fine-mesh sieve, and then squeezed THAT gently through a coffee filter. All you need is a cup of cereal milk for the ice cream, so only gross yourself out for as long as it takes to get a well-strained cup!

Combine the cup of cereal milk with the sugar, salt and vanilla extract in a pot and heat over medium. Whisk the egg yolks in a separate bowl and pour the cream into yet another bowl over an ice bath. When the sugar has dissolved into the cereal milk and the mixture is steaming hot, slowly pour it into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, to temper them. Scrape the eggy mixture back into the pot and place over medium heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom, until the custard coats the back of a wooden spoon. Do not let it boil! Pour the custard through a strainer into the cold heavy cream and stir over the ice bath to combine. Chill the mixture overnight, then freeze it in your ice cream machine for about 25 minutes or according to the manufacturer’s instructions. You can eat it immediately, soft-serve style, or pop it in a container and let it firm up in the freezer for a few hours. Crumble the remaining caramelized cornflakes on top when you serve it.