Black Sesame and Orange Ice Cream
Tuesday, March 15, 2011 at 11:28AM Are you sick of ice cream posts yet? Too bad, because ice cream is just about the only thing we've been interested in making these days. And ever since we tried it at Kushi in D.C., we've been really interested in making black sesame ice cream. We found this recipe with a citrus kick at Serious Eats. And, as I stated immediately upon trying it, it was stupid awesome.
- 1/4 cup black sesame seeds
- 3 cups half-and-half
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 6 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup sesame oil
- 2 tsp orange zest
- 1 tsp kosher salt
First, I toasted the sesame seeds in a small pan over medium heat for about 3 minutes (until they released a nutty aroma), making sure to toss constantly.
Next, I put the seeds into my food processor, gave them a whir, added a couple of tbsp of half-and-half, and whirred again. I added the rest of the half-and-half (sorta had to do it in batches since my immersion blender is broken - TRAGIC! - and I only have a very, very small food processor), and pulsed until well-combined. Then I poured the mixture into a saucepan.
I plopped the egg yolks into my mixer (which is one of the best things I've ever owned, thanks Mom and Dad!), poured the sugar over the top and whisked for about 3-5 minutes, until the combination had thickened and lightened in color.
I added the egg mixture to the saucepan with the half-and-half and heated it over low heat, whisking constantly, until the custard had thickened sufficiently (thickly coated the back of a spoon).
I poured the custard into a container, stirred in the sesame oil, orange zest and salt, and covered and chilled it in the fridge until the next morning.
The second I woke up, I bounded out of bed - "ICE CREAM TIME!!" I poured the chilled mixture into the frozen bowl of the ice cream maker and started it churning. After about 12 minutes, the consistency was like soft-serve, so we spooned it into our pint containers and put in the freezer to finish off.
DELICIOUS. Maybe one of my favorite ice creams ever, definitely the best one we've made. The sesame seeds and oil made the ice cream gorgeously nutty and buttery, and the orange zest was a significant presence, but not overwhelming. I would not be surprised if we make this on the regular, and maybe try switching out the orange zest for other flavor combinations (bacon, anyone?).
Ice Cream in Recipes: At Home
Reader Comments (7)
Looks great. I'm curious about the pint containers you use to freeze it. Whenever we make ice cream we freeze it in plastic tupperware and it turns all icy and rock hard.
damn, this ice cream i would make -- it sounds amazing and only uses some half and half rather than awful (yet delicious) heavy cream
J-
Yeah, we read somewhere that you shouldn't use plastic tupperware. We bought a bunch of pint containers in bulk at Smart and Final. We got styrofoam this time (I KNOW! BAD!), but next time we are gonna get the paper ones, I think it's better for the texture of the ice cream somehow.
Evan-
Right - the sesame oil and the seeds provide extra creaminess, so you don't have to use heavy cream. It is SO SO good.
This looks amazing. I for one, wouldn't mind if this turned into an entirely ice cream focused blog...jk. I like your other stuff too. :)
Hee! Well, at the very least, we still have to do bacon ice cream and Thai ice tea ice cream. I also want to do something with balsamic.
Wow! Looks delicious! I had black sesame ice cream years ago (minus the orange infusion). I've had Kushi on my list since it opened and this is added incentive. Thanks guys!!! xoxo
You should definitely head to Kushi - we loved almost everything! And I bet you have a list of people waiting to take you out to dinner, pretty lady!