Black Sesame Ice Cream with Profiteroles and Yuzu Ginger Curd

I have recently returned from a trip to Tokyo and Hong Kong.  During that trip, I have experienced some amazing meals.  To my surprise, as I don't eat lots of sweets, I was very drawn to the desserts in Asia as they are not super sweet.  I grew up eating these not so conventional ingredients that are used to make desserts such as red bean, green tea, ginger and black sesame.   I specifically love the taste of the black sesame and really want to make something with this ingredient.

That opportunity presented itself recently when I was asked by Diana Kuan who has a new book The Chinese Take Out Cookbook to help her celebrate Chinese New Year by hosting a Chinese New Year Virtual Potluck.  She listed seven recipes from her new book and told me that I could choose any of those recipes to make a dish then post it on my blog.  I thought for sure I would like to make a noodle dish since I am somewhat obsessed with eating noodles.  I crave it almost every day, instead I chose the black sesame ice cream as I am a huge fan of black sesame.  It has such a distinct flavor and I love the nuttiness of it.

I thought I would use the ice cream to make a composed dessert with contrasting flavors and texture; and who doesn't like an ice cream sandwich so I used profiteroles here.  I also love some citrus flavor or sourness to my desserts to cut the sweetness.  I have some yuzu juice in the fridge, so I thought I should make a sauce.  I found a really simple lemon curd recipe from my culinary school days and adapted it to make the yuzu ginger curd.  Hope you like it and I highly recommend checking out Diana's new book as she has many wonderful recipes that I'm sure you will enjoy making.

Black Sesame Ice Cream with Profiteroles and Yuzu Ginger Curd

Black Sesame Ice Cream (from The Chinese Take Out Cookbook by Diana Kuan) Yield 1 Quart

2 cups of heavy cream

2 cups of whole milk

3/4 cup of sugar

1/4 cup of black sesame seeds

1/2 tsp of pure vanilla extract

1/8 tsp of salt

Special equipment

Ice Cream Maker

Spice Grinder

Combine 1 cup of the heavy cream, sugar and salt in a medium pot over medium-low heat. Stir until the sugar is full dissolved.  Pour the ice cream mixture into a bowl. Stir in the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream, milk and vanilla extract.  Cover the mixture and chill in the fridge for a least 3 hours or overnight.  When the mixture has chilled, grind the sesame seeds in a clean spice grinder.  Pout the mixture into your ice cream maker, slowly pour in the ground black sesame and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions.  Transfer the ice cream to a freezer-safe container and freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Profiteroles (yield about 18)

1 cup of water

1 stick of unsalted butter

1 cup of all purpose flour

4 large eggs

2 tbsp of granulated sugar

1/2 tsp of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine the water, butter, sugar and salt in a medium pot, bring it to a full rolling boil, stir occasionally.  After the boil, take the pot off the heat and add all the flour, stir until smooth.  Put the pan back on low to medium heat and cook, stir constantly until the the dough dries and pull to the side of the pot.  Take it off the heat and let it cool.  Put the dough into a mixer fitted with a paddle.   Add one egg at a time, mix until the egg is completely absorbed before adding another egg.  Once the eggs are completely mixed in.  Place the dough into a piping bag and pipe the dough to about 1 1/2 inch rounds onto a slip pad-covered cookie tray.  Bake about 15-20 minutes until slightly golden brown.  Cool and set aside.

Yuzu Ginger Curd (yield about 1/4 cup) Adapted from Nick Malgieri's lemon curd recipe

3 large egg yolks

1/4 cup of yuzu juice

1/4 cup of granulated sugar

2 tbsp of unsalted butter

2 tsp of grated ginger

Combine the yuzu juice, sugar and butter in a sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Whisk the egg yolks in a separate bowl.  Add one quarter of the boiling liquid into the egg yolks to temper the yolks. Return the remaining liquid to a boil over low heat.  Whisk the egg mixture into the pot and whisk until it thickens.  Add the grated ginger.  Continue to whisk, do not allow the curd to boil or it will scramble.  Transfer the lemon curd into a clean bowl, press plastic wrap against the surface to prevent a skin from forming.  Chill and set aside.

To assemble, cut the profiterole in half, sandwich it with a scoop of the black sesame ice cream then put some yuzu curd on the plate.

I am loving the deliciousness and toastiness of the black sesame ice cream.  Thank you Diana for asking me to try one of your recipes.  It's been fun being a part of this Chinese New Year Virtual Potluck.