Black Sesame Ice Cream

Don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it. It may sound a bit unusual but I got hooked on the stuff at one of our favorite local sushi joints called Michi. I was dubious about trying sashimi here on the prairies so far from any ocean but it’s actually quite good. The kicker though is the black sesame ice cream. I searched for it locally in the markets to no avail so I figured I’d just have to whip up a batch on my own.

Unlike my friend @freerangecookie on this cool blog http://www.freerangecookies.com/ I used an ice cream machine instead of our new clothes dryer. I’m thinking either method would work.

Ingredients:

5 large egg yolks

1 cup whole milk

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 cups heavy cream

3 TBS black sesame seeds

method:

Using a mortar & pestle, crush sesame seeds. In a saucepan, combine milk, sesame seeds, sugar and vanilla and scald milk over low/medium heat. Set aside and let the seeds steep in the milk for about an hour.

Beat egg yolks into milk and heat over low/medium heat stirring constantly until a custard that coats the back of a spoon forms. Pour the custard into the 2 cups of heavy cream and stir well. Pour into ice cream machine and churn according to your machine’s instructions. That’s it! How simple is that?

I like to use a mortar & pestle as opposed to a grinder or processor since I like to have some texture. I have heard of people using black sesame paste though frankly I doubt that is something I could source around here. If you get the black sesame seeds at a local Asian market, they tent to be really inexpensive too.

This ice cream was made for an entry into the #letslunch group on twitter that comes together to cook and post on a common theme. It’s a great way to meet new tweeps, learn new cooking ideas and read some great blogs – give it a try!