Alice Zaslavsky’s cheese-cloud corn cobs

This is pretty much the most ‘extra’ way to eat a cob of corn, and so worth it for summer entertaining.

Dig in: Cheese-cloud corn cobs

This is pretty much the most “extra” way to eat a cob of corn, and so worth it for summer entertaining. The moist carrot cake can go without icing; simply sift some icing sugar over it before serving.

Cheese-cloud corn cobs with apple chipotle bbq sauce

4 corn cobs in their husks

Olive oil, for brushing

½ cup thick whole-egg mayonnaise or garlic aioli

25g pecorino or parmesan cheese

Finely chopped chives, to serve

Apple chipotle barbecue sauce

1 cup (250ml) bottled apple sauce

½ cup (125ml) tomato sauce

½ cup (125ml) barbecue sauce

¼ cup (60ml) maple syrup

2 chipotle chillies in adobe sauce, finely chopped*

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

Preheat a chargrill pan or barbecue on high heat. Pull back corn husks, leaving them attached; pull away corn silks. Submerge corn in well salted water for at least 10 minutes. Shake excess water from husks, then brush a little oil on them. Pull husks back over cobs; place on barbecue and cook, turning every 5 minutes, for 15-20 minutes, or until husks are blackened. Set aside for 10 minutes. Combine sauce ingredients; season to taste. To make a dipping sauce, mix ¼ cup (60ml) of the sauce with mayonnaise. Place another ¼ cup (60ml) of sauce in a small saucepan; warm slightly. (The recipe makes 2¼ cups; the rest will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 month.) When corn is ready, pull back husks, brush with warmed barbecue sauce and grate cheese over. Scatter with chives; serve with dipping sauce. Serves 4 as a side

*Available in supermarkets and delis.

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Zesty gluten-free carrot cake

Zesty gluten-free carrot cake

2 carrots (about 320g), peeled

1 thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled

150g walnuts, roughly chopped

200g dark brown sugar

½ cup (125ml) olive oil

4 eggs

1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups (300g) plain gluten-free flour

Pinch of salt

1½ tablespoons baking powder

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Cream cheese icing

500g cream cheese, softened

120g unsalted butter, softened

1¼ cups (155g) pure icing sugar

Grated zest of 1 orange, plus extra to garnish

Preheat oven to 180C. Line base and sides of a 13cm x 24cm loaf tin with baking paper. Coarsely grate carrots, ginger and walnuts using a food processor. Set aside. In a bowl, mix sugar and olive oil until you have a thick, brown paste. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, making sure each is incorporated before adding another. Add carrot mixture, vanilla, cumin and cinnamon; stir to combine using a spatula. Sift in flour, salt, baking powder and bicarb of soda; stir until there are no lumpy bits. Pour into loaf tin; bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Place loaf tin on a cooling rack. For icing, beat cream cheese, butter, icing sugar and zest in a stand mixer (or blend in a food processor) until very smooth. Lash icing thickly over top of cooled cake. Grate over extra zest before serving. Serves 6-8

Edited extract from In Praise of Veg by Alice Zaslavsky (Murdoch Books, $60). Photography: Ben Dearnley