When I think about summer, this is the picture in my mind: A breezy summer day, late afternoon. The kitchen table, crammed end-to-end with the bounty of the season: lobsters, pulled from their pots that very morning, juicy tomatoes bursting with the flavor of sunlight itself and basil from garden, bright yellow corn-on-the-cob so sweet, we’ll boil it for only a moment lest any of its magic be lost, and heaps of wild blueberries still in their baskets, awaiting a sprinkling of sugar, butter and flour which will become the simplest of sweet endings. I love these memories of Maine summers with my family.
Flavors specific to time and place are one of my most enduring sources of inspiration in the R&D lab here at King of Pops. Many months ago–a year ago?!--I had a wacky idea of somehow taking this core memory and turning it into a new flavor. Did you know blueberries (really, any berry) and corn is a perfect match? It’s not as crazy as it sounds! I feel that things that grow together, go together. A cornmeal shortcake and juicy berries, smothered in whipped cream? I would dare you not to try a bite.
So, Berry Corny was born. It was met with skepticism at our tasting table, sure–but before long, I could tell everyone’s tastebuds were curious for more. Blended together, it wasn’t quite right. Swirled, it didn’t look very appetizing. At one point, Steven suggested a “pop in a pop”-- maybe corn on the inside, blueberry outside? Yes!!! That was it!
Once the formula was settled, we started the search for locally-grown corn that would be ready when we needed it–Longleaf Ridge Farm to the rescue! Matthew (biz development) and I drove down to see the farm (and eat corn straight out of the field) and brought back almost 600 lbs of freshly-picked corn for production. It was great to get out of the office and go on an adventure!
A pop-in-a-pop is a true labor of love: a small, slender pop is poured to become the inside, and those pops have to be carefully and gently placed inside another larger mold where they’re encased in a second flavor. Our team of Frosty Freaks worked really hard on making this pop come to life, and I am so grateful to the team for living out our core values on this one - Get Sweaty, Get it Done! Oh, did I mention we had to battle the Great Aquapocalypse during this production, too?! Yeah, there was that. But we did it!
And so far, the response has been more than I could’ve hoped for–so I do hope you’ll take a chance on this super special pop!
(If you find yourself with a bounty of blueberries, like we do in my house fairly often, I love making this super-simple dessert. May I suggest making some sweet corn ice cream to go with it?)
Easy Blueberry Thing (aka pudding cake)
INGREDIENTS
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing the skillet- 1 lemon
- 1 lb blueberries (fresh or frozen–I love to use the frozen wild Maine blueberries)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp sea salt or ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ cup whole milk
- 1 ¼ cup boiling water (yes, really!)
PREPARATIONS
- Toss the blueberries with the zest and juice of the lemon, and ¼ cup of the sugar. Set aside.- Mix flour, salt, the remaining ¾ cup sugar, and baking powder.
- Melt butter and mix into the milk; add this to the dry ingredients and mix until combined–it will be thick.
- Grease a cast-iron skillet or 9-inch baking dish with butter; spread batter in the bottom of the pan.
- Spread fruit over batter evenly.
- Heat oven to 400F.
- Just before placing the skillet in the oven, pour the 1 ¼ c boiling water over the fruit–it will look wrong, but just trust the process!
- Bake for 20ish minutes, or until the batter that’s risen to the surface is golden and the fruit is bubbly.
- Enjoy warm with ice cream or just by itself.
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