At my local Asian supermarket I spied a packet of instant black sesame dessert which had no preservatives or additives. So I decided to experiment and use this as flavour and thickening for an ice cream.
I combined 3 cups of milk with 1⅓ cups of cream and after bringing to a boil allowed it to simmer for 4 minutes. Now I added all 4 sachets of black sesame dessert (there is quite a lot of thickening in these desserts so each sachet needs at least 1 cup of liquid) and whisked them until smooth. I also added 2 tablespoons of cream cheese and a pinch of salt. After cooling over an ice bath I churned the mixture in my ice cream machine before freezing in silicone muffin trays. The perfect garnish (also found at my local Asian supermarket) was black sesame candy.
michelle picker cooks 