Black sesame ice cream and black charcoal ice cream are extremely popular in Japan right now and are gaining some interest in the western world too.
The black sesame paste is surprising in appearance, black like an ink and is from China, with a full-bodied taste of sesame and a bit bitter. You incorporated it into a base of ice cream to get this ice cream to a beautiful anthracite grey color, sweet (bitterness has completely disappeared), and with the very pronounced taste of sesame.
And as long as you had to, you also applied the same treatment to a dose of Tahini (white sesame paste, used in the preparation of hummus) for a result with a similar taste although less full-bodied, and a nice pair of colors.
Ingredients:
– 300 ml whole milk
– 150 ml fresh cream
– 120g sugar
– 3 yellow eggs
– 110g black sesame paste (or Tahini for a white sesame ice cream)
Preparation
Whisk the sugar with the egg yolks until the mixture is white and sparkling.
Heat the milk and cream to over 65°c, but avoid boiling.
Pour the hot mixture over the eggs and sugar, stirring, mix, then heat to over 65° but less than 85° to avoid coagulation, until the preparation ‘ Coats’ a wooden spoon (a finger passed over the spoon covered with cream should leave a clean and stable trace).
Out of the heat, add the sesame paste (if it is ‘separated’ in the pot, put it in the microwave for a few moments and stir).
Let cool, ideally 7-8 hours in the refrigerator before blending in the ice cream machine.
Make the cream. For a creamy Taste and texture it needs 20-25 minutes (Best), and /or place the ice cream for another one or two hours in the freezer for a harder consistency.
Some notes:
– For a vanilla ice cream, it’s the same recipe, without the sesame and by adding a split vanilla pod and scratched in the milk cream mixture.
– If the crème anglaise gets too thick (formation of lumps due to too much cooking of the eggs ->85° ), it is possible to save and fix the creme by blending(re-stirring) the mixture and reheating it.
– With an ice cream maker, the result is excellent and immediate if one takes care to cool well the device (8 hours in the fridge) and the ice cream(24 hours in the freezer).
Enjoy your delicious black sesame seed ice cream!