Black Sesame Ice Cream

Another week. Another ice-cream recipe. Yep- I'm in an ice cream stage at the moment!

Winter is my type of ice cream weather- I like snuggle up in layers of thick clothing before slowly making my way through ice cream, unlike in summer where you have to sorta race your way through before the whole thing melts into a puddle of custard. There's the downside of having your body freezing from inside to out, but I guess that's also part of the fun!

I've been wanting to make ice cream throughout my exam period, as I took a food science subject this semester (yay!) and though it was much less interesting than I'd anticipated, there was one lecture which I did enjoy in which we learnt all about ice cream! Well not exactly, but we did learn about the roles of different components in ice cream on the textures and flavours of the finished product, and if there was one thing I actually bothered learning this whole semester, it was that!

Although I usually like to try many different recipes before deciding on one that I really like, I've been rather unadventurous when it comes to ice creams- infact, I've been only using the one recipe for all my ice creams thus far, only making minor modifications for the flavours. This was because most recipes I'd read had pretty much the same ingredients list as the one I was using anyway, and I figured more or less, that the method for making ice cream is pretty much standard if it's made with a custard base, so why bother looking at anything more than the ingredients list if I already know what to do with all the ingredients?

It was only until I came across this black sesame ice cream recipe, and actually bothered reading it that I realised that my recipe was quite different from most others as I usually whip the cream and fold it into the custard before churning rather than incorporating the cream into the custard before cooking! This makes for a less airy and voluminous but much smoother ice cream, which I actually like better!

This black sesame ice cream recipe is pretty amazing, but then again black sesame is one of my favourite flavours! The sesame doesn't add much of a sandy texture (unlike the nestle ones which have the texture of cement) and the roasted sesame paste adds a really nice sesame flavour :)

Black Sesame Ice Cream Recipe
Adapted from these two recipes

1 1/4 cups heavy cream (I used thickened cream)
¾ cups milk
¼ cup +2 Tbsp sugar
4 egg yolks
½ cup + 2 Tbsp black sesame seeds

1. Combine cream, milk and half the sugar in a medium saucepan over medium low heat. Stir often to prevent any scalding until mixture is warm, about 5 minutes.
2. In a medium bowl, beat together the yolks and half of the sugar until thoroughly smooth and creamy. Slowly add a ladle of the warm cream mixture to the egg to temper them. Repeat with one or two more ladles of cream.
3. Stirring continuously, slowly pour the tempered eggs into the saucepan with the rest of the cream. Increase the heat to medium. Continue stirring the mixture frequently until it has thickened and coats the back of the spoon (10-12 minutes).
4. Pour the ice cream base into airtight containers and cover the surface of the cream with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
5. The next day, pour the ice cream base into your ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer instructions. As the ice cream is churning, toast the black sesame seeds in a medium skillet over medium heat for 10-15 minutes until very fragrant, stirring often to prevent burning.
6. Reserve two tablespoons of the toasted seeds (to add texture), and process the rest in a food processor or spice grinder until it forms a paste. Once the ice cream is nearly frozen, add the sesame paste and whole seeds. Continue churning until evenly incorporated. (I added the paste into the mixture before churning)
7. The ice cream will be soft, so transfer into airtight containers and freeze until desired texture is reached.