Momofuku Milk Bar’s Cereal Milk Ice Cream
August 27th, 2010 | Category: Ice Cream & Sorbet
Cereal what? That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, the silky liquid you see above on the right is called cereal milk. And on the left is an ice cream made with this cereal-infused milk, sprinkled with caramelized cornflakes. I’ve seen it on David’s blog and can’t stop thinking about it ever since. The genius behind this idea is Christina Tosi, pastry chef/owner of Momofuku Milk Bar, who, as a kid, never drank milk unless it was steeped in several bowls of sweet cereal. You must have heard of her before, since she’s been widely popular for some other creations, such as Crack Pie and Compost Cookies.
Before I came across David’s post, I had already came up with a very strict schedule for the months of August and September, which didn’t really involve an ice cream post. Even the slightest deviation meant disaster.
But seriously, who cares? We are talking about ice cream here.
So, cereal milk. It sounds pretty straight forward; pour milk on top of cornflakes and let steep. But keep in mind that you’ll cook the cereal milk with yolks, combine it with heavy cream, and later churn the whole thing in an ice cream machine – all of which will dilute the taste of infused milk. That means you need a much deeper cereal taste to begin with, which is made possible by caramelizing the cornflakes. Tosi’s secret ingredient comes into play: Milk powder. She calls it the MSG of baked goods.
Toss crushed cornflakes, milk powder, sugar, salt and melted butter in a bowl, spread the mixture out on baking sheets and bake in the oven until the milk powder and sugar starts to caramelize and turn a deep golden color.
It will look like this:
After bathing in milk for an hour and a couple of exhaustive straining sessions later, the cereal milk is ready.
Warning: At this point in the recipe, do not (I repeat: DO NOT) taste the cereal milk. I did and had to resist this urge to down the whole glass in one gulp and it wasn’t funny. I’m serious.
And here’s another thing I’m serious about… It involves what’s left behind, which I’d like to call “cereal mud”.
Silly me decided to go all Heston Blumenthal on this cereal mud and tried to turn it into a cereal cone.
Because I assume, as food bloggers, we are expected to get the most out of every gastronomical treasure – be it a farm animal or, in this case, a box of cereal.
I even came up with a homemade cone mold (since I don’t have one of these). I made a cone out of aluminum foil and stuffed it with rice to keep its shape while rolling.
I scooped out a quarter cup of mud and spread it thin between two parchment papers:
And baked.
And rolled into a cone.
Although the shape was somewhat OK, the texture was nowhere near a respectable cone. It was way too soft. I then tried several methods: Dehydrated the mud in the fridge overnight (cracked all over after baking), 6 hours (cracked again), an hour (yes, cracked again), blended the mud, rolled it thin and baked again (same result) and then gave up.
Well, at least I’ve tried, right?
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go and think about what else to steep in milk and make ice cream. And never ever try to bake a cone again.
CEREAL MILK ICE CREAM RECIPE
Ingredients
For Caramelized Cornflakes (makes 18 oz; recipe adapted from Momofuku)
- 10 oz cornflakes
- 2 oz nonfat dry milk powder
- 4 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 6,5 oz (one and a half stick) unsalted butter, melted
For Cereal Milk (approximately 1 cup):
- 4 cups whole milk
- 14 oz caramelized cornflakes
For Cereal Milk Ice Cream (makes approximately 3,5 cups):
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup cereal milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 large egg yolks
- 4 oz caramelized cornflakes, to serve
Method
- To prepare the caramelized cornflakes, preheat your oven to 275 F (140 C). Put the cornflakes in a large mixing bowl and crush them with your hands a few times. Combine milk powder, sugar and salt in another bowl, give it a stir and set aside. Add the melted butter to the cornflakes and then the sugar mixture and toss to combine. Spread out on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper and bake in the preheated oven until they caramelize, for approximately 35 minutes. Remove and let cool to room temperature.
- To prepare the cereal milk, combine 14 oz of caramelized cornflakes and milk in a large mixing bowl and let steep for an hour. Strain the milk with the help of a fine-mesh sieve (make sure to press on the cornflakes with a spatula to extract as much liquid as possible), strain once again (through a finer sieve or cheesecloth this time), pour it in a container and set aside.
- To prepare the cereal milk ice cream, pour the heavy cream in a medium bowl and place it in the fridge until needed. Combine cereal milk, sugar, salt and vanilla extract in a small pot and bring to a boil over medium heat.
- In the meantime, in a medium pot, whisk together egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk mixture into the yolks while whisking constantly. Place over medium heat and stir until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon.
- Pour the custard through a strainer into the chilled heavy cream and stir to combine.
- Chill the mixture overnight, then freeze it in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Serve with the remaining caramelized cornflakes.
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I was just there last weekend. Had crack pie, corn cookie, and compost. I did not have the milk. Foolish mortal ! Now i have something to get on my next trip. This sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing
Heaven on Earth!
Incredible dessert!!!
You have improved on the simplest of desserts, what else can I say!
I went to Milk Bar about a month ago, had the cereal milk ice cream, promptly fell in love, and told myself that my life would not be complete until I recreated it. now I can! thanks so much for posting this!
ummm…looks pretty good there Cenk… …just might try this!
Fantastic. This sounds delish, I’ve added it to my list of flavours to make. Loving ice cream at the moment.
Well done too on your efforts with the cone, you’re far more brave than me I just buy cones. Never occured to me to try & make them. Life’s just too short for some things LOL.
this is a great combination for breakfast!
Looks awesome! I can recommend the Momofuku Milk Crumbs, as well. I made an a Milk Ice Cream with them. Very yummy, and all without eggs.
sounds wonderful, must try to make one day!
Brillant! Just started making ice cream this summer and really excited about trying out this recipe. Thanks for taking a break in your schedule!
Oh my God!!! Oh my Goddess! I love milk, ice cream and cereal! I’ll try this!
this is nothing short of genius. i’m so excited you recreated this! as someone who lives in dangerously close proximity to momofuku milk bar (so what if a river separates us and i’m in a neighboring borough), I’ve been dying to figure out how that has been made.
Can I just eat the caramelized cornflakes and stop there? They sound pretty fabulous.
This could be a silly question but why does 4 cups of milk make one cup of cereal milk? does it all absorb in the cornflakes? just wondering because would not want to have 3 extra cups of it lying around for said reason of chugging it!
for the cone idea – look for a fortune cookie recipe, and make that, maybe leaving out the almond or vanilla, or whatever it calls for. I bet with a little help, the cereal mud could be incorporated into that and easily made into cones, or at least small cups (make a larger cookie, and while it’s still warm/flexible, drape it over a small, overturned bowl).
Thanks for sharing the recipe! I just made her blueberries ‘n cream cookies yesterday (from the Bon Appetit September issue) and I think I’ve got a new chef crush developing.
Try adding egg to the cone stuff. I’m a krumkake maker, and eggs are very important! You can do it!
This is genius! I have to try this recipe. . .immediately!
You do know this is an awesome post. Great photos, too! Instead of booking a trip back to New York City, I may change my ticket to Istanbul–!
Caitlin – That’s how much you’re left with when you strain it after an hour of steeping. The cornflakes absorb the rest.
Lorrie, La Reveuse – Thanks a lot for the suggestions. I think I’m done with trying for a while, but will keep these in mind if there’s ever a second attempt.
David – Thank you! And please, change it fast.
Maybe if you fried the cone after you shaped it, it would hold its shape??
The ice cream and the crumbs look amazing though!!
..waiting for your next post is always worth and this one I really like very much.
Omg, this is genius!! I have to admit that sometimes I soak lots of cereal (multigrains cherrios are delicious for this) in milk just so I can drink the flavored “cereal milk”.
Now I can make ice cream out of it, awesome! I really want to try this!
Maybe you can make muffins with the leftover soaked cereal. There are lots of recipes out there for muffins made with bran cereal where you soak them for a while before proceeding with the recipe. You are one step ahead with the cereal in this case!
Ana
This looks just off the hook delish…
Thank you so much for posting this recipe. I went out and purchased skim milk powder and corn flakes just to try this
I’m skeptical about the 3 cups of milk mysteriously disappearing into the cornflakes, but I can’t wait to try it out!
your pictures are amazing. the ice cream looks so delicious!
This sounds absolutely sublime! I’m sure it touches a childhood chord in a lot of us…hmmm, must think about incorporating milk powder into more desserts!
Awesome post! I’ve been reading so much about Milk Bar lately, I actually might try one of the recipes. How did you ever get the great final shot without holding the cone? Combine two shots in PS? I guess I’ll have to do some ice-cream photography research…
Sarah – Thank you! Yes, I combined two photos in PS for the final shot.
MERHABA CENK, Ben şu an da devletin sağlık hizmetinde çalışan biriyim.Fırsat buldukça yurtdışı ve yurtiçi seyahatler yaparım.En çok şurayı burayı severim diyemem çünkü her gittiğim yerin bana haz veren yönleri vardır.Bir gittiğim yere tekrar bu hazzı yaşamak için tekrar giderim.Bu gezilerim aynı zamanda gurmet-gourmant karışımına dönüşür.Kapadokyayı, siena yı , Deia ( palma) Lurmarin (güney Fransa) ve vevey (isviçre)severim.
Yemek yemeyi ve yapmayı severim.Sizin blogunuzu beğeniyor ve izlemeye çalışıyorum.Ben de benzer bir blog edinmeyi planlıyor ve hayal ediyorum..Vaktiniz olursa bir maille bana ulaşabilir misiniz? Blogunuzu yapan web tasarımcısının adresine ulaşmak çok sevindirir.Bir de bu photoları bu siteye hangi programla yüklüyorsunuz ? şimdiden teşekkür ederim. nazan
Nazan – Çok teşekkürler. Sitenin tasarımı bana ait. Fotoğrafları yükleme özelliği de sitenin altyapısını oluşturan WordPress programının bir parçası. Blog konusunda yeniyseniz size tavsiyem Google’ın Blogger hizmetiyle işe başlamak.
Wow, what a genius idea! You’re giving Mado some proper competition! I love the final photo, and was intrigued how you did that, then saw that you said you merged 2 photos together in photoshop. Damn, I need to get PS!
Hi,
Just in case you decide to attempt making a cone in the future, the mixture needs to be of a thin batter like consistancy, which is then baked until crisp before quickly rolling. Think slightly thicker than brandy snaps or fortune cookies. Have you ever watched someone make waffle cones? If not, try looking on YouTube. Although it won’t be as good as watching it in person. It’s mesmerising. It’s the smell that gets you. And the skill. And the speed. And the finished product.
no WAY. my friends were there the same night! Funny!
Glad you enjoyed!
xoxo
This ice cream looks soooo tasty especially as my favourite parts of ice cream is the cone and sprinkley bits on the top, it’s a shame I don’t like cereal milk…it gives me tummy ache :0( however I’ve never tried it as an ice cream before, but I sure would like too!
See! I always knew why I soaked my cereal in milk even
if I get soggy cereal because I love the milk flavor
that comes from it!
I must try this, looks so delicious. I’ve heard that about milk powder. I started making ice cream this summer and was on a bit of crusade and tried so many different flavours, this one is genius. Your photos are amazing!
Oh my God!!! I love milk, ice cream and cereal!This is genius! I have to try this recipe. . .immediately!I only look at the pictures and try the recipes!
I just found this at 9:40 at night.
DAMN YOU! I will dream about this now till I make some. I wonder what other flavors I can dream up.
GREAT post!
I tried this today! It was really really good. I think the only thing I’d do differently is use less eggs… mine came out a little bit too custardy/thick that I couldn’t eat as much of it as I wanted to
THANKS!
hmmm….no stabilizer like guar gum or pectin? is it a fast melting ice cream? or do all those eggs hold it together?
deva – The texture was great. Didn’t melt too fast.
Wow, this is genius!!
You are a genius. Outstanding!
This is a must-try! Beautifully written and photographed.
Regarding the milk powder – I’m assuming that it is the fine, flour-like, non-instant nonfat milk powder and not the instant nonfat milk granules (such as Carnation brand). Is this correct?
Rita – Thanks! Glad you liked the post. Yes, that’s correct.
Thank you, Cenk. Here’s hoping the book will be translated. Best wishes for a big success.
This is a wonderful recipe! I made this for my husband for Valentine’s Day, and we really enjoyed it. I tried adding two eggs to the “mud” and baking it, but it came out a mushy mess. Nothing wrong with eating delicious ice cream from bowls
Thank you for sharing!
Did you try making them in an actual dehydrator? The cones, that is.
-Mary
Mary G – Wish I had one!
Cenk, I just made Oreo Milk ice cream and made some tuile cones to go with them. If you’re interested, I’d like to share the post with you: http://foodivakitchen.blogspot.com/2011/07/oreo-milk-ice-cream-with-fierce.html
Just so you know, your cereal milk ice cream was the inspiration for my post. Thank you, you have the most delicious blog!
I’m so happy to read your recipes!
Thank you.
L O V E, L O V E the caramelized corn flakes.
.
A Milk Bar opened a few blocks from my house and I’m so addicted to the ice cream and cornflakes i googled and found your blog
In the store they put a big pile of the cornflakes on the bottom of the cup, ice cream and some more on top.
OH MY! I have to make this at home.
Thanks!
RC – Glad to hear that! Hope you like the recipe. By the way, their book is coming out soon…