This post is also available in: French
Before it gets too cold, here are two ice cream ideas that are a little more hearty to set the mood for fall. I’ve been wanting to try black sesame ice cream for a while now. At first, I was mostly intrigued by its deep asphalt grey colour, which is so uncharacteristic to ice cream or any dessert for that matter. Deviant ice cream. But then I thought about the flavour and realized that it would taste of halva and honey, and there was no stopping me.
I also made some ginger ice cream to go with the grey batch. Ginger is another one of those warming, earthy flavours, which combines wonderfully with the sesame. I found the pairing of the two to be very comforting, almost soothing to have after a long day or to end a peaceful dinner.
Ginger Ice Cream
2 cans full fat coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum or 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
1/2 cup agave syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-inch peeled knob of ginger plus 1/4 cup grated ginger
In a bowl, mix together 1/4 cup of coconut milk with xanthan gum or arrowroot powder to form a thick slurry, set aside. Heat the rest of the milk, agave syrup, vanilla and the knob of ginger in a medium sized pan. Bring to a near boil, mix to dissolve the agave. Cover and leave to infuse until cool. Remove the knob of ginger and heat again. Add the slurry and whisk until smooth. Remove from heat and add grated ginger. Let cool completely at room temperature and refrigerate overnight. Put into an ice cream maker for 25 minutes or however long your brand of ice cream machine suggests.
Black Sesame Ice Cream
Black Sesame Paste
1/2 cup black sesame seeds
1/2 cup raw honey
Toast black sesame seeds in a dry frying pan over medium heat, shaking the pan often. Remove from heat immediately as you start smelling the toasted seeds. Grind the seeds in a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle. Mix honey with the seeds.
2 cans full fat coconut milk
2 tablespoons arrowroot powder or 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 cup coconut sugar
pinch of salt
4 tablespoons black sesame paste
In a bowl, mix together 1/4 cup coconut milk and arrowroot powder, making a slurry. In a medium sized pan, combine the rest of the milk, sugar and salt and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, stir in the arrowroot/xanthan slurry and simmer for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Mix in the black sesame seed paste thoroughly. Let cool completely at room temperature and refrigerate overnight. Put into an ice cream maker for 25 minutes or however long your brand of ice cream machine suggests.
To make raw ice cream, use this recipe for vanilla ice cream and add about the same amount of grated ginger or sesame paste. You may want to reduce the amount of agave for the black sesame ice-cream or use 1/2 cup of coconut sugar instead.
coldplay2me says
mmmm, I love black sesame ice cream. Thanks for the recipe ;)
Anonymous says
Looks wonderful. will this work if you do not let it set in the refrigerator over night? Can I just stick it in for a few hours or in the freezer for a little bit and then put it in the ice cream maker?
Shannon says
I love the color that black sesame gives desserts!
Joy says
I really want to try this, but if I don’t have xantham gum or arrowroot powder, can I just use corn starch?
Vegie Project says
That looks great! I had black sesame ice cream at a Japanese restaurant once and I have to say it is one of the best ice cream flavours I’ve ever tried. Thanks for sharing the recipe :)
Emma Galloway says
Oh wow, beautiful!
thelittleloaf says
This ice cream looks absolutely beautiful and I love the use of coconut milk. Unlike anything I’ve ever tried before – I have to get involved!
Beach Mama says
I can’t wait to try this! Looks like our dessert for Chinese New Year!
Suzanne Perazzini says
We are moving towards summer down here and I love the idea of deviant ice cream. The ginger with the coconut milk must make a great flavour of ice cream.
cow in the dunes says
This looks amazing! A favourite restaurant of mine in Toronto makes this and I have always wondered how they do it. Now I know! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Tanya says
Oh, how I love ginger ice-cream! Your recipe sounds delicious. Never tried black sesame before, very intrigued.
Golubka says
chyThanks for your comments, everyone!
Aonymous 4:47, it really depends on your ice cream maker, but generally your mixture has to be very well chilled in order to freeze properly.
Joy, I can’t say for sure, I’ve never tried it with corn starch.
urban vegan says
The black sesame is calling my name. I eat ice cream even in the winter ;)
Fräulein Unwichtig says
I am amazed by your blog. Defenetly thinking now siriously about going back to vegan now. I never thought you could eat that intersting vegan. Thank you for opening a new world to me.
But sadly I just can’t figure out how to follow you through blogger. You should design more easily, please.
parfums says
so nice and tasty blog . so nice . i like it .
Parfum pas cher
daphne says
I was amazed. .first time to see black ice cream haha but it looks YUM! xoxo
Market Study says
Your recipe really sounds delicious..very different and new flavor of ice cream invented here..really creative and innovative idea..I will definitely try out this because I like to taste different flavor of ice cream..keep continue sharing such new recipes
Elenore says
an incredible energy in your words and in your ideas for this post! Fall-ified ice cream – I love it! and even though it´s difficult to find black sesame seeds here I will try!
xoxo Elenore
Anonymous says
thanks for sharing.
Jorge Ramiro says
Oh my god, man, that’s a wonderful iceream. I think i bought some one like that near the Obelisco in Buenos Aires. That city is the capital of the icecream. I mean, it’s awsome for people like me. I am an icream lover. So, you kno. I’ve stayed in some buenos aires apartments. For six month. It was great.
smarty says
Very good stuff with good ideas and concepts, sesame seeds
Gexton says
The Ginger Ice Cream
2 cans full fat coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum or 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
1/2 cup agave syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-inch peeled knob of ginger plus 1/4 cup grated ginger.
Bizzy Lizzy's Good Things says
Black sesame is one of my favourite flavours… thank you for sharing the recipe. Love your blog!
Juta says
These look delicious, but what would you suggest as a substitute for the honey, as honey is not vegan.
Anya says
Thanks Juta. Agave syrup or other sweetener of your choice will be just as good in this recipe.
Evan says
I made the black sesame ice cream last night and it was absolutely delicious. Rich, creamy, roasty, comforting, and yet still a great summertime dessert. I reduced both the honey and the coconut sugar by 1 tbsp each and found that it was still plenty sweet enough. I can’t wait to make it again!
Grace says
Okay! BEST ICE CREAM EVER!!! Made this and exceeded my expectations….So Im one to lie to myself about healthy stuff being yummy. But this?! This is actually good! It has the consistency of normal ice cream, and is more flavorful and creamy than store bought ice cream. I would even compare is to my beloved haagan daze or strauss ice cream. By the way I only did the ginger recipe and added 1 1/2 T of vodka to make it a little softer. I thank you so much for blessing people with your AMAZING FOOD! :) Will be following your blog :)
tooj says
There seems to be only a few comments from folks who used the recipe, so I’ll add some.
Mostly both of these recipes are great. I love the strong spiciness of the ginger and the black sesame is really nutty and almost chocolatey.
However, just be forewarned that both recipes as written are extremely sweet (to my tongue). Especially given that these flavor are usually used in Asian cooking and desserts (which tend to be less heavy and sweet than western style flavors), it was cloying in comparison to other desserts I’ve had with this flavor profile (even non-vegan ice cream). So know what to expect and adjust to your taste.
Also, the texture is really great straight out of the machine but once in the freezer, it is really crystalline. The ginger especially comes off the spoon in shard like masses. I wish I had tried using vodka like the poster above but I wanted to use the recipe as written first.
One other thing of note is that the agave syrup has a really strong flavor and, though muted because of the ginger, still comes through. It’s also *very* sweet with respect to amount. I suggest maybe a mixture of agave with turbinado (though that may affect texture).
I’ve also read on another blog, serious eats, that Karo corn syrup (not HFCS) is a good option to produce better consistency.
So those comments out of the way, these are solid recipes that I will definitely make again with some tweaking. Really delicious. Relatively easy (minus all the grating work for all that ginger!). Really worth making! Thank you!