Okay, okay, I have to say that my beloved grandfather “Papu” was not the inspiration for this recipe. He enjoys grapes and milk with his cereal at his 3:30 am wake up call—oh the sleep-deprived life of a cattle rancher and farmer. This recipe is more of a figment of my imagination: an incorrigible, white-haired man slipping spirits into his breakfast cereal before anyone can catch him. In my imagination this ice cream sounded delicious, and I am happy to report that in real life it tastes as good as I imagined. I think the tongue-in-cheek title adds to the flavor too—I deeply appreciate food that doesn’t take itself too seriously. In fact, that is exactly what this quarantine has brought out in me, a recovering perfectionist—a charge to try and not to take things so seriously. A reminder that life is finite and precious. The schedule, the plan, the day, inevitably, changes. I can either waste energy trying to course-correct, or go with the flow and put my energy into creating progress on what I can control: me doing my darnedest to see and keep up with therapy clients through telehealth and giving myself permission to play with food and flavors! Though I hope this quarantine will end soon, I must say that I have appreciated the pause and creativity that has come with the stillness—though I know that has definitely not been the case for everyone. I hope you are staying safe and well, and don’t forget to play with you food and laugh when you can. You never know what you will come up with, like putting cornflakes and bourbon together to make a delicious bowl of ice cream. 

Ingredients:

• 3 cups cornflakes

• 2 1/4 cups milk, yielding 2 cups of cereal milk

• 2 1/2 cups heavy cream

• 1/8 cup bourbon

• 1 cup sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Method:

1. Freeze ice cream maker bowl at 0 degrees for 24 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place 3 cups of cornflakes onto a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes.

3. Pour 2 cups of toasted cornflakes into a bowl with 2 1/4 cups of milk. Cover and steep for 15 minutes. Strain milk out of cereal, pressing with a spatula. Due to the cornflakes absorbing the milk you will probably be left with 2 cups of cereal milk. If you get a little less than that—don’t worry—just top off with regular milk!

   P.S. Congratulations you just made cereal milk! It’s all the rage in NYC.

4. In a large bowl, combine cereal milk, sugar, and salt. Stir together until sugar and salt are dissolved.

5. Add in cream, vanilla extract, and bourbon. Stir until incorporated.

6. Cover and chill for 2 hours, or if needing quicker, put in the freezer for 30 minutes.

7. Pull out mix, and give it a final stir, taking care not to make it bubbles, as you do not want to add air.

8. Pour into ice cream bowl and make according to your machine’s settings.

9. While your ice cream starts churning, take remaining cup of cornflakes and place into the jar of a blender. Blend into a fine powder. This is your mix in!

10. With 5 minutes left on the churn, add in cornflake powder!

11. Once completed, put in a freezing container, and let harden for 3-4 hours or overnight.

12. You can absolutely leave out the bourbon to make this kid-friendly! Or the mix in if you just want plain cereal milk!