The "new black"? Black sesame seeds in desserts

[Gifted Gourmet]

article from the LA Times ...

please note: this article is no longer available: as of 6/3/2006

A tiny little black seed is taking the pastry world by storm. Flavor of the month? Absolutely not — for pastry chefs from Paris to Tokyo, from Los Angeles to New York and over to Spain, it's the flavor of the year. Black sesame seeds — earthy and nutty, distinctively bitter, with a smoky, almost peppery flavor — are appearing in tuiles and macarons, ice creams and eclairs, cakes and panna cottas and doughnuts.  This is no mere trendy garnish. "It isn't overly sweet or cloying so it helps maintain the integrity of other ingredients in a dessert."Pastry chefs are enthusiastic not only about their flavor but also their color...  black sesame seems to have come into its own in desserts, where the strong flavor can be balanced with some sugar. Keller has had a dessert of mango sorbet, yuzu-scented genoise, sesame nougatine and black sesame coulis on his menus.

Do you use black sesame seeds in your desserts?

Tell us all about it, please!

I like the recipe in this article for Layered green tea and black sesame

cheesecake ...

[A Patric]

Yes, I have used them with Thai sticky coconut rice with fresh mango slices. I mix them with regular sesame seeds and sprinkle them over the finished product.

Alan

[SweetSide]

I've mixed them with apricot jam and used the mixture as the center of a tart topping. The rest of the tart was covered in something (it escapes me what I used) such as meringue to form petals so that the entire tart looked like a sunflower.

I'd post a picture, but I'm still picture inept...

[duckduck]

I've been using them with spiced candied almonds in a mixture of black and white. I did a batch this weekend with just the black because I was out of white and to me they didn't look quite as nice. They just looked a little, well, dirty to me. I'll post the recipe later. Super simple stuff. I've been meaning to make some sesame chews, like the simple candy you buy in the asian markets, with a mixture of black and white to see how they look. They've very sexy in a jar on the counter. I would think they'd be really nice looking in tuilles too. Now that I'm thinking about it, my mom's old snickerdoodle recipe had a variation of rolling them in sesame seeds instead of sugar and cinnamon. They'd be great for that and those sound so good right now.

Edited March 3, 2006 by duckduck (log)

[chiantiglace]

I always thought they went well with anything orange.

I do on the other hand not enjoy sesame and chocolate together. to me there is no balance with those to flavors, but thats my opinion.

[alanamoana]

as a fledgling pastry chef in 1999 i made a black sesame brulee...i like the flavor better than white sesame...unfortunately, it never made it onto the menu because i couldn't get past the color. something like fresh concrete! hehehe

if i had been a little more persistent, i would have used it in other desserts. i tend to give up too easily!

[sanrensho]

as a fledgling pastry chef in 1999 i made a black sesame brulee...i like the flavor better than white sesame...unfortunately, it never made it onto the menu because i couldn't get past the color.  something like fresh concrete!  hehehe

You wouldn't have had a problem selling that in Japan. Black sesame desserts are everywhere, and not just traditional Japanese sweets.

I have to mention this. One of our local Chinese supermarket chains (T&T) sells a black sesame bread. The flavour is quite good, but they must be using a very, very cheap source for their black sesame seeds. Every couple of slices, you will get a piece that has some grit/sand in it. The sensation when that happens is awful beyond words.

Oddly, I've never experienced this problem with other products made using black sesame.

[pastrymama]

I make a sesame brittle with black and white seeds. It is real thin and very delicious.

[Wendy DeBord]

I've only used them on breads. I used to make bread sticks with one end of white and the other black.......they looked cool.

[Gifted Gourmet]

I think some of these sound positively electrifying! Would you post them on our

RecipeGullet so that we can try to make them too? Thanks!!

[nightscotsman]

We used them at Bellagio sprinkled on banana tuiles before baking. These were a garnish on a dessert featuring warm banana crepes and coconut tapioca. The black sesame flavor goes nicely with banana.

[gingerfreak]

I love using them in anything that calls for sesame seeds - I love the visual effect.

Lately I've made some really nice slightly sweet sesame biscotti - and I go half and half with white and black sesame seeds.

[SweetSide]

I've only used them on breads. I used to make bread sticks with one end of white and the other black.......they looked cool.

←

We also did twisted grissini where one side was coverd in white sesame and the other in black sesame. The effect of the twirling colors was very nice.

[sazji]

Just to clarify, is this real sesame we are talking about, or Nigella, which is often called black sesame - the "kalonji" of Indian cooking?

[Sethro]

I really don't like the flavor of sesame, personally. It reminds me of stale popcorn.

I do a "sesame square" petit four, though, which gets alot of complimetns. It's basically just a rice krispie treat using the excess marshmallow from another petit four (I was too lazy to scale down the recipe for my new marshmallow pans, heh), melted butter, toasted brown rice, black and white sesame and salt.

At another restaurant I worked at, the chef loved sesame. There was a banana sesame dessert that sold really well, in which we ground equal parts white sesame and sugar together for coating bananas before wrapping.

[duckduck]

black and white sesame almonds

[M.X.Hassett]

I like to put them on orange gelato, I always lightly toast them in a pan first.

[alanamoana]

"Just to clarify, is this real sesame we are talking about, or Nigella, which is often called black sesame - the "kalonji" of Indian cooking?"

i'm pretty sure this is real black sesame. nigella are similar to onion seeds if i'm correct and definitely lend themselves to savory cooking more than sweet...

Edited March 4, 2006 by alanamoana (log)

[Abra]

There's a little dim sum dessert bun that's filled with a black sesame paste. I swoon over them, and wish I knew what they're called so I could search out a recipe.

[miladyinsanity]

That paste...

If you have a Chinatown near you, Abra, ask about a dessert called "zhi ma hu." You can buy it in little sachets and add hot water, or cook them. I think.

[Sethro]

I like to put them on orange gelato, I always lightly toast them in a pan first.

←

I buy them already toasted from Asian Market, which is actually cheaper than raw from anywhere else.

[Ling]

There's a little dim sum dessert bun that's filled with a black sesame paste.  I swoon over them, and wish I knew what they're called so I could search out a recipe.

←

I love these! You can buy them frozen (they are the filling in this sticky, glutinous rice ball) at Asian supermarkets. Just boil and serve!

[Abra]

So is what you can buy frozen called zhi ma hu? I'm sure that if they exist frozen, Uwajimaya will have them, if only I know what to look for.

Today someone sent me a recipe that appeared in the March 1 Los Angeles Times - a layered green tea and black sesame cheesecake. It looks just delicious, not that I'll be making it any time soon, but I wanted to point other black sesame lovers to the recipe. You have to register to see it, but registration is free. If anyone makes it, please let me know (Ling, this looks like you!)

[tejon]

Oooh, I love the black sesame filled buns! There's something so subtle and wonderful about the flavor.

[miladyinsanity]

So is what you can buy frozen called zhi ma hu?  I'm sure that if they exist frozen, Uwajimaya will have them, if only I know what to look for.

Today someone sent me a recipe that appeared in the March 1 Los Angeles Times - a layered green tea and black sesame cheesecake.  It looks just delicious, not that I'll be making it any time soon, but I wanted to point other black sesame lovers to the recipe.  You have to register to see it, but registration is free.  If anyone makes it, please let me know (Ling, this looks like you!)

←

Abra, is the bun you are talking about the Bao? You know, like charsiu bao etc?

Or is it what Ling was talking about, the glutinous rice balls?

The Zhi Ma Hu is a dessert that consists of sweetened black sesame paste--it's quite liquid. You can get it in sachet form (it's powdered and sweetened and ready to go), and just add less water than the instructions tell you to get a dryer paste with which to fill buns.

Hmm... I can't get the recipe for some reason. And I've registered.