Corn husk meringue, chef Enrique Olvera's signature dessert

Preparation

Step 1: make the meringue

Heat the oven to 225°C.

Start by removing the husks from the corn cobs and spread them out on a baking sheet. Roast the leaves in the oven until they are brown. Now remove them from the oven and cool them on a rack. Lower the temperature of the oven to 90°C.

Remove the non-roasted parts of the leaves. Break the remaining browned into small pieces that you grind into powder. Pass the corn husk powder through a fine sieve and discard the larger residue.

Now make the egg whites. Crack the eggshells on a flat surface and carefully separate the yolks from the egg whites. Beat the egg whites in the stand mixer with the whisk attachment on low speed until soft peaks form. Now, gradually add the sugar until medium peaks form. Then add 2 1/2 tablespoons of the corn leaf powder. Continue beating the egg whites on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Keep the remaining powder for finishing.

Time to bake. Put the meringue in a piping bag with a round tip. Pipe four rounds of meringue onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper. They should be 7 to 8 cm in diameter. Bake the meringue for about 1 hour and 10 minutes in the oven until you see cracks appear. Turn off the oven with the door ajar and let the meringues cool inside the oven. When you tap lightly on the meringues, they should be hard and sound hollow. Meanwhile, make the corn cream.

Step 2: prepare the corn cream

First you need to scrape the grains off the corn cobs. To do this, you place the ears vertically with the tip down and with a large knife you cut the kernels off in a downward motion. Scrape off the remaining corn milk to bring all the flavor from the corn into your dessert.

Now combine the corn, sugar, salt and 3/4 of the heavy cream in a saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. Simmer over medium heat, stirring, until the corn is tender, 8-10 minutes. Pour into a blender and puree until smooth. Strain the puree through a fine sieve, pressing all the flavor from the solid particles. Let cool completely.

Time to finish the cream.  Take 2 small mixing bowls. In the first one, beat the mascarpone until fluffy and in the other beat the remaining cream until stiff. Fold both contents into the corn mixture until you have a homogeneous cream. Set the corn cream aside in a cool place.

Step 3: prepare the roasted vanilla cream

Burn the vanilla pod with a blowtorch until it begins to swell and becomes very aromatic. Let the vanilla stick cool, split it in half and scrape out the seeds. You can save the stick for another use.

Add the sugar to the heavy cream and beat with a whisk until the cream becomes fluffy. Now add the vanilla seeds and continue beating until you have semi-stiff peaks.

Step 4: the presentation

The corn husk meringue is served at Cosme in a very specific way.

First, tap the meringues with a knife. They will break in half. Separate the 2 parts.

Divide the whipped cream among 4 plates. On top, spoon the corn cream. Take a meringue half in each hand, place them on the sides of the corn cream and slide them slightly toward each other.

Sprinkle the meringues with the rest of the corn leaf powder and fleur de sel.