The Churning Bush

I have very little experience with Asian desserts in general, so I was intrigued when I got a request for black sesame ice cream. I’ve never worked with black sesame seeds before, but since I have made halva I’m aware of the sweet applications of sesame seeds. If you’re wondering how different black and the off-white ‘regular’ sesame seeds are, I encourage you to try a blind taste test; I found the black ones to be notably less bitter, though both still had that distinctive sesame taste. I’d wager that you could get away with using ‘regular’ sesame seeds fine (note that there’s also a distinct product called white sesame seeds, which are just hulled).

I’ve included a range of potential syrups to use in making up the paste; note that different syrups might require more or less added milk to thin and combine properly. I initially tried this recipe with glucose syrup and it was… okay. However, I haven’t included it in the list of candidates because it’s frankly just too bland. A lot of depth of flavour will come from your choice of syrup here, so go with one you like. I myself like honey, but since I understand that it’s widely considered non-vegan, I also had a shot at making a maple syrup black sesame paste – let’s just say I highly recommend it. While syrups vary in their sugar concentration, this shouldn’t affect the recipe overall, unless you use something that is very low in sugar or you combine the sesame seeds with an oil (as is frequently done for savoury black sesame pastes).

I also went quite heavy on the paste in this recipe (hence the quite dark grey colour); other recipes I’ve seen typically use less. To be frank, this doesn’t reflect a particular stylistic preference – I just found making smaller quantities of paste in my food processor difficult and didn’t know what else to do with it! Even with a sesame-rich ice cream, this recipe will result in some leftover paste!

Black Sesame Ice Cream

Ingredients

(This recipe uses 100g of black sesame paste but makes up 150g due to limitations on the size of the average food processor.)

Black Sesame Paste
80 grams	Black sesame seeds
40 grams	Honey/maple syrup/agave nectar (etc)
30 grams	3% Fat oat milk
Milk
700 grams	3% Fat oat milk
Powders
110 grams	Sucrose (white sugar)
60 grams	Dextrose (D-glucose)
20 grams	Maltodextrin
5 grams	Stabiliser, such as xanthan gum
Fats
60 grams	Refined coconut oil
Other
To taste	Toasted black sesame seeds, for mixing through at the end.

Directions

1. Toast the black sesame seeds (including the ones to be added during churning) in a pre-heated pan over medium heat for about a minute or until you start to see some steam. Set aside the additional seeds for later incorporation, and process the rest in a food processor until they completely break down into a paste, then add the maple syrup. If you’re having trouble with the seeds sticking to the side of the food processor and not getting processed, resist the temptation to start adding in the syrup and milk – that’ll make them stick worse in my experience! Just keep scraping down the sides, processing until they all stick up the sides again, then scraping down again. Once they’ve formed a paste, add the syrup and milk.
2. Combine all the powders in a bowl and whisk together until evenly incorporated. Measure out the fats and put them in a heat-proof bowl.
3. Heat the milk in a double boiler over medium heat with 100 grams (or other desired quantity) of the black sesame paste. While the milk heats, slowly incorporate the fats and powders, whisking constantly. When the mixture reaches about 80-85°C (175-185°F), remove from the heat and stick blend for about a minute to further emulsify the oils.
4. Place the ice cream mixture in the fridge once cool enough and leave it there until cooled to 4°C (40°F) or overnight. Sometimes I like to move the mixture to the freezer for the last half hour to get it as cool as possible and help with the churning process, but don’t leave it long enough in the freezer that it starts to solidify.
5. Pour the mixture into your churner and leave it running until fully churned. Being ‘fully churned’ is hard to judge without experience, but your ice cream should have increased somewhat in volume and look a bit denser than soft serve. The time needed will vary dramatically depending on your churner. While the ice cream is churning, incorporate the reserved toasted black sesame seeds.
6. You can serve your ice cream as soft serve now if you like, or you can put it in the freezer to harden to your desired level. If it’s been in the freezer for more than 12 hours or so, you might need to give the ice cream a bit of time to soften at room temperature before you serve it.