Black Sesame Ice Cream Recipe – The 32nd Flavor!

You may have tried Japanese flavored ice creams like green tea ice cream, red bean ice cream, and the very popular Matcha ice cream, but what about black sesame ice cream?

If you’re a fan of Japanese cuisine, you’re probably used to seeing black sesame incorporated into sushi recipes, but while it may seem like an unusual ice cream flavor, in Japanese and other Asian cuisines it’s a fairly common ingredient in dessert.

In Japan, you can find black sesame in desserts such as black sesame macarons, purin (pudding), chiffon cake, mochi, bread, and much more! Meanwhile, Chinese cuisine has black sesame sweet soup and mochi dumplings that have a black sesame filling. 

Perhaps what makes black sesame so compelling as a dessert ingredient is how it completely changes the dynamic of a dessert. They change up otherwise ordinary-looking desserts with their unusual grey shades, and their unique, nutty taste adds another layer of flavor.

After all, who doesn’t love a savory kick to their desserts? It makes desserts that much more irresistible and moreish!

And you can enjoy this unique Japanese ice cream at home with my recipe below! Creamy, nutty, sweet, and a little savory, this black sesame ice cream recipe has it all!

Black Sesame Seeds: A brief history

While black sesame ice cream can range in color from alluring silvery hues to striking slate grey scoops, sesame seed comes in a variety of colors. These are brown, red, yellow, beige, or white.

They come from the Sesamum indicum plant, a leafy annual plant that grows 3 to 6 feet tall and was recorded as a crop in ancient Babylon more than 4,000 years ago. They’re small, oval pods that contain as many as 100 oil-yielding seeds.

The pods of some plants strain and split open abruptly when they mature. This scatters the seeds and is perhaps the inspiration for the famous phrase “Open, sesame!”

Of course, the key ingredient to black sesame ice cream is black sesame paste. You can find jars of black sesame paste at Japanese grocery stores, or on Amazon. 

Or, if you would like to use toasted black sesame seeds to make a paste, you can easily do this with a food processor. 

Is Japanese Black Sesame Paste the same as Black Tahini?

Black tahini is an ingredient commonly used in Middle Eastern cuisine. It is also called sesame paste or sesame butter, but the key difference between black tahini and black sesame paste is that it’s not made from toasted sesame seeds.

After it is pulverized into a paste, it is then mixed with sesame oil and some salt.

You can substitute black sesame paste for black tahini when making Japanese desserts, but keep in mind that tahini is unsweetened, and will have a more pronounced, bitter flavor. It also has a wet, more liquid-like consistency due to the sesame oil.

When using tahini in your Japanese desserts, add some honey to make it sweeter and make adjustments as needed.

Ingredients

• 2.67 Tbsp of toasted black sesame seeds
• 2.22 cup of whole milk
• 0.44 cup of sugar
• 4 large egg yolks
• 2.67 Tbsp of honey
• 4 Tbsp of black sesame paste
• 1.33 tsp of pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup and 4 tsp of heavy (whipping) cream
• 0.17 tsp kosher/sea salt (I recommend Diamond Crystal. When using table salt, use ½ a tsp)
• Prep time: 30 mins
• Cook time: 15 mins
• Chilling time: 8 hours
• Total time: 8 hours 45 minutes
• Servings: 2

Instructions

1. Get your ingredients together.
2. If the black sesame seeds are not yet roasted, put them in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat and stir until they start popping. They will then start to release their nutty aroma. Remove from the heat and cool.
3. Grind the black sesame seeds very finely.
4. Whisk the sugar and egg yolk together until they’re pale yellow.
5. Add honey, black sesame seeds, and black sesame paste and whisk until fully combined. 
6. Microwave the milk until hot throughout (or you can bring it to simmer in a small pot), and add to the sesame mixture in a slow stream. Mix at a low speed for 30 seconds.
7. Transfer the mixture into a small pot. Heat the mixture over medium-low heat, constantly stirring, until the custard thickens and reaches around 176ºF (80ºC). Be careful not to exceed 181ºF (83ºC) as the egg yolk will cook. To avoid salmonella, the egg must be cooked for at least 1 minute over 167ºF (75ºC).
8. Remove from the heat and cool down in a large bowl filled with iced water and then add vanilla. 
9. Clean the stand mixer bowl and whisk together the heavy cream and a pinch of salt until the peaks form. 
10. Add the whipped cream into the cooled sesame mixture.
11. Fold in but do not over mix it. Chill the mixture in the refrigerator for several hours (or overnight) until it’s completely cold. 
12. Process the mixture in your ice cream maker, following the manufacturer’s instructions (most ice cream makers take about 25 minutes to make ice cream). Transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and freeze it for several hours before serving.
13. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, then transfer the mixture to a container and place it in the freezer. Stir 3-4 times every few hours to break up the ice crystals until it’s completely frozen.

Extra tips

A pretty simple recipe, right? Below, you’ll find some extra tips to elevate your ice cream and make it even more delicious and enjoyable!

Add texture: White chocolate, macadamia nuts, or even oreo cookies add great texture to this ice cream. Pick your favorite ingredient and chop it into small chunks, then fold into the black sesame and condensed milk mixture. 

Add garnish: Toasted black sesame seeds, crushed peanuts, fresh mint leaves, and even fresh berries make a great garnish. 

Different ways to serve: For a fun party dessert you can serve black sesame ice cream on a snow cone, or you can serve it on a waffle for a delicious breakfast!