Kuro goma (黒ゴマ') ice cream. Handmade, no-churn.
If any of you have ever had black sesame ice cream in Japanese restaurants or matcha (green tea) and azuki (red bean) flavor then you know how rare and special this treat is.
It’s not like in Asia where you can find pints of these flavors in an ordinary supermarket. One may be able to find it in the shops on rue St. Anne in Paris but you’ll find a hefty price tag to go along with it.
Homemade no-churn black sesame ice cream.
Ingredients such as these black sesame seeds are widely used in Taiwanese desserts. I dream of the hot dessert soup with tang yuan(湯圓)— which is like the Japanese mochi — filled with black sesame paste…perfect for winter days.
Black sesame seeds are great to have on hand. With the left over sesame seeds from this ice cream recipe I usually make a mix of gomashio (ごま塩) which is a condiment made up of slightly grounded black and white sesame seeds and coarse sea salt. This is a great topping to add to salads and rice bowls.
Black sesame flavored ice cream.
We’ve been blessed with sunny days recently, strolls outside with an ice cream cone in hand from the local ice cream shop seems like a distant dream. Tomorrow our city opens up and we will be permitted to move freely without our permission forms. I wonder how long it will be before we find ourselves back on the streets enjoying the warm and casual days licking the bit of ice cream that has melted down the cone and onto our hands.
Black Sesame Ice Cream
PREPARATION
For homemade black sesame paste:
In a skillet, toast the black sesame seeds until you hear them crackle (you can also toast them in the oven). Make sure to stir occasionally.
In a mortar and pestle grind 3 tablespoons of toasted black sesame seeds. Once it has turned into a powder, add 2 or 3 tablespoons (depends on how sweet you want it) of honey and pound it together.
INGREDIENTS//Yields approximately 2 1/2 dozen
• 4 egg yolks
• 60 grams sugar, granulated
• 400 ml organic whole milk
• 2 tablespoons toasted black sesame seeds, grounded
• 3 tablespoons sesame paste (this is also found as a ready made paste product in the stores)
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 200 ml heavy cream (la crème entière) , refigerated
INSTRUCTIONS//Serves 4
Warm up your milk in a pot on low heat.
In a mixing bowl combine the egg yolks and sugar and blend together until smooth.
We want to make a smooth like custard.. We need to temper the eggs in the wet mixture by slowly drizzling the warm milk into the wet mixture while using a spatula to stir.
Then whisk it back into the pot while keeping the heat on low temperature. Keep stirring to keep it from curdling.
Add the salt and vanilla and continue to stir until you have a smooth thicker version.
Prepare a cold ice bath with a bowl (large enough to hold the mixture and the whipped cream) in it. Ttransfer this mix into a bowl sitting in the ice bath and stir with the spatula to help it cool down. Let it sit while you prepare your whipped cream.
Take out the heavy cream from the fridge. Add the heavy cream in a seperate mixing bowl and blend on medium to high speed until it gets thick and turns into whipped cream with stiff peaks.
Slowly fold in the whipped cream into the mixture sitting in the ice bath. Do not over mix it.
Transfer it into a container and place some cling wrap or wax paper over the surface (it should touch the surface) and put it into the freezer. This keeps air from getting to it and prevent some ice crystals that will form.
After 2 hours before it completely freezes, take out the container and stir to break up the large ice crystals.
Repeat a couple of times if you can. You will get a creamier texture.
Serve and enjoy.