What I love about a gateau Breton is the top AND bottom crusts, and how they both mesh so beautifully with the filling so that it’s soft but not soggy.

Now I don’t eat dessert everyday (ice cream doesn’t count!), but if I have something sweet I like to have it first thing in the morning, with my coffee. A fruit-filled gateau Breton fits that bill perfectly.

Blackberries were on sale at the grocery store last week, and although they aren’t going to be very sweet this time of year, they’re still nice for baking. I like to put a pint or two in a sauce pot, with some sugar, a vanilla bean, and a squeeze of lemon juice. Cook over medium heat down to a bubbling deep purple “lava”, and you have yourself gateau Breton filling.

I used 3-inch cake rings to make tiny individual gateau Bretons, but the dough recipe makes enough for one 10-inch cake.

High altitude note: No adjustments necessary for this recipe.

Breton Dough from The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri
2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, or 1 vanilla bean pod split and scraped
4 egg yolks
2 3/4 cups flour

Cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time. Follow by the flour, all at once, and mix until just combined.

Place half of the dough in the bottom of a greased and parchment-lined 10-inch cake pan. Alternately, if using ring molds, divide the dough among each so that there is enough to press halfway up the sides and cover the bottom.

Spread the cooled filling over the Breton dough. Pat the remaining dough into a 10-inch disk and slide onto a cardboard cake round (this makes it easier to move). Slide the disk over the top of the gateau Breton and press lightly along the edges to seal.

Mix one egg with a pinch of salt and brush over the top of the gateau Breton. Trace a lattice design of your choice with a fork over the top. Bake at 350 F until the gateau Breton is well-colored and baked through, 45-50 minutes. Smaller gateau Bretons will bake faster and the baking time will need to be adjusted.

Why do we like corn in the first place? Because it’s sweet! This ice cream perfectly captures the irresistible flavor of fresh sweet corn. This nod to late summer flavor is further enhanced with a tart, fruity blackberry sauce.

If there’s one thing we grow well in Indiana, it’s corn, and right now people are offering up plenty of it, freshly picked. When a family friend delivered a big box of summer produce to us, I felt the need to get creative.

While I’d certainly pick a double dip waffle cone of espresso chip ice cream over sweet corn ice cream, this is great for a tasting menu (Word of advice: if preparing this for a tasting menu halve the recipe). Paired with the blackberry sauce I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the flavors abundant with summer’s conclusion.

Once you have your fresh sweet corn, the cobs and kernels are steeped in cream to infuse their natural sweetness into the mixture. If you’re a bit wary about the corn flavor, I suggest only steeping for 2-3 hours. Afterwards, the cobs and kernels are strained from the mixture, so your ice cream will be smooth. Don’t worry, there aren’t going to be frozen chunks of corn in here or anything. Just flavor.

The blackberry sauce is made by cooking the blackberries until they become soft, pureeing them with some lemon juice in a blender, and then straining out the seeds. That’s it.

So do as I did, and next time you find yourself with some fresh sweet corn lying around and a basket of berries in fridge, it’s time to make ice cream!

Sweet Corn Ice Cream with Blackberry Sauce (New Flavors for Dessert by Williams-Sonoma)

• 4 ears fresh sweet corn
• 3 cups half-and-half
• 1 cup heavy cream, plus more as needed
• 2/3 cup plus 1/2 cup sugar, divided
• pinch of salt
• 2 1/2 pints blackberries
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Remove the husks and silk from the corn. Using a chef’s knife, cut the kernels off the cobs. Add the kernels and cobs to a large pot along with the half-and-half and cream.

Add the 2/3 cup sugar and the salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let steep for at least 3 hours or up to overnight (if steeping for longer than 3 hours, refrigerate the mixture).

Strain the corn mixture through a fine-mesh sieve. Using your hands, wring out the cobs and press on the kernels with a spoon to extract as much liqud as possible; discard the cobs and kernels.

Measure the liquid; you should have about 3 cups. If not, add more cream as needed. Cover and refrigerate the corn-infused mixture for at least 3 hours or up to 8 hours. Basically you want it to be nicely chilled.

In a nonreactive saucepan, bring the 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add 2 pints of the blackberries and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the berries break down, about 8 minutes.

Transfer the mixture to a blender and add the lemon juice. Puree the berry mixture, then strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Freeze the chilled corn-infused mixture in an ice-cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions. If desired, pack it into an airtight container and freeze until very firm.

To serve, scoop the ice cream into bowls, drizzle with the blackberry sauce, top with a few of the remaining berries, and serve right away.

Yield: 1 quart ice cream, 6 servings