Where Goth and Hipster Collide

Alright! The year was 2017. Along with rainbows and unicorns, gothic-themed food was quite ubiquitous thanks to activated charcoal. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw a bucket of black sesame ice cream at my local Asian grocery store. For some reason, I thought black sesame was a love child between sesame paste and activated charcoal.

Although I didn't buy the bucket, the thought of black sesame plagued my mind. So, I had to google everything about black sesame...and I was hooked. Just like skittles, sesame seeds come in a variety of colours; though not as colourful and fun.

At this point, I knew I wanted to actually make black sesame ice cream. Let me tell you, this black sesame ice cream is divine! If you're a peanut butter or tahini fanatic, you're going to love this. The roasted black sesame seeds gave off a nutty flavour, which goes perfectly with the sweet and milky ice cream.

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Black Sesame Ice Cream

Adapted from Just One Cookbook

Ingredients:

Nutty Sesame Paste

• 5 tbsp roasted ground black sesame seeds

• 5 tbsp honey

Ice Creamy Base

• 5 tbsp sugar

• 3 egg yolks

• 2 tbsp roasted ground black sesame seeds

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 2 cups milk

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 2 cups of heavy or whipping cream

*Optional: 1 tsp activated charcoal (for colour)

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Instructions:

1. Let's make the sweet black sesame paste. Finely grind 5 tbsp of black sesame until the seeds release its natural oils. It should look a bit like a crumbly paste. At this point, add in 5 tbsp of honey and mix until well combined.

2. Now let's make that ice cream base! In a bowl, whisk the sugar and egg yolks until it turns thick and becomes pale yellow.

3. Combine the sweet black sesame paste, ground sesame and salt with the egg mixture and set it aside.

4. Warm the milk by placing it on the stove and let it simmer on medium-low for 3 minutes.

5. Slowly pour the warm milk and whisk it into the egg mixture.

6. Pour the mixture back into the pot and heat it on low for 10 minutes.

7. Take the mixture out of the stove and let it cool. Meanwhile, whip up the heavy/whipping cream and vanilla extract until stiff peaks.

Note: Before folding in the cooled mixture with the cream, you have the option to mix in your 1 tsp of activated charcoal into the cooled mixture to intensify the colour.

8. Fold in the cooled mixture with the cream and place it in a container.

9. Place your ice cream mixture in the freezer for 4 hours.

10. After 4 hours, mix the ice cream to break down the ice crystals forming in the ice cream and place it back in the freezer. Repeat this step 3-4 times so that you get a creamier texture as opposed to an icy one.

11. Let it freeze overnight and dream of your ice cream.

12. Wake up the next day and enjoy your black sesame ice cream! I drizzled mine with some butterscotch syrup.