Black Sesame Chiffon Cake

Nothing gets my family more excited about dessert than something made with black sesame seeds. Their favorite dessert is the black sesame soup, a Chinese dessert you can find at the nearest Phoenix Food Boutique. The black sesame seed has a more earthy flavor than its white counterpart and imparts a more intense flavor when used in cooking and baking. You can find a lot of Asian recipes that incorporate black sesames in it rather than as a garnish, as how the white sesame seeds are typically used. I attempted a Black Sesame and Orange Ice Cream awhile back with much success. This is where I learned the killer combination of incorporating both grounded black sesame seeds and sesame oil to achieve an even more profound sesame flavor. For this chiffon cake, I included both sesame oil and sesame paste into the cake batter.

Black Sesame & Strawberry Chiffon Cake
Cake base adopted from Little Corner of Mine

Ingredients
Sesame Paste
1/2 cup toasted black sesame seeds
1/2 cup of sugar
1/4 cup (half a stick) butter

Cake
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
6 egg yolks
3/4 cup coconut milk
2 tbsp sesame paste
6 egg whites
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
3/4 cup sugar

Whipped Cream Frosting
1 quart heavy cream
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, as needed
1/2 cup sesame paste, to taste

Directions
For the sesame paste
Place roasted sesame seeds into a food processor and process until fine. Melt butter in a sauce pan over medium head. Add ground black sesame and sugar and stir until a thick paste forms. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

For the cake
Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine the dry ingredients together and then add the egg yolks coconut milk, sesame paste and oils. Mix until smooth. Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until moist peaks formed. Gradually add 3/4 cup sugar, beating until stiff and shiny peaks are formed. Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the egg yolks mixture, fold to mix and then add the rest of the egg whites. Fold gently but thoroughly. Turn batter into ungreased 10" tube pan.

Bake for 60 minutes or til a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Invert cake and cool completely in pan. When cool, loosen the edges with a flat plastic knife or icing knife and gently remove the cake.

For the frosting
Whip the heavy cream and powdered sugar at highest speed until thick and fluffy, about 10 minutes. Add additional sugar to taste. I separated my whipped cream into two batches and added 1/2 cup sesame paste into one half to use as frosting between the layers. I used the plain whipped cream to frost the outside of the cake.



Once cooled, I layered the cake with macerated strawberries and black sesame whipped cream. I also made a black sesame simple syrup using sugar, water and ground sesame to brush each cake layer to keep it moist. I sprinkled sesame seeds on the top of the frosted cake for decoration.



My family really enjoyed the cake! The fresh strawberries really lightened up the flavors, which I am super happy about since I was a little apprehensive about combining black sesame and strawberry. However, I would have liked an even more pronounced sesame flavor. Next time, I will definitely use more paste and sesame oil in the dough as well the filling. Maybe even spreading a thin layer of the black sesame paste over each cake layer for additional flavor.