Black sesame ice cream
A gray to charcoal ice cream made with toasted black sesame paste, toasty and nutty with a deep, rich finish.
Rare Rare enough that you would most likely make it at home. What the badge means
Black sesame ice cream is a gray to charcoal scoop made with toasted black sesame paste. It sits in the modern and unusual section of our flavor library.
It is rare in stores, so most people who want it make it at home. This page covers how it tastes, how to make it, what to pair it with, how common it is and what the nutrition figures show.
What black sesame tastes like
Black sesame tastes toasty and nutty. Many people compare it to peanut butter, but the flavor runs deeper and a little darker. The roasted note comes from toasting the seeds before they go into the base.
The color is the first thing you notice. It ranges from soft gray to deep charcoal, depending on how much sesame paste goes in. The texture follows the base you choose, so a custard base gives a dense, smooth scoop.
The flavor comes from one ingredient: toasted black sesame paste. There are no chunks or swirls to plan around. The paste is blended right into the base, so every spoonful tastes the same from top to bottom.
Where black sesame comes from
The sources we use do not record who first made black sesame ice cream or when.
Alta Online reports that Mikawaya, the Los Angeles confectioner known for mochi ice cream, added black sesame to its range after its first flavors. That places the flavor among the fillings people may already know from mochi.
One more note matters when you serve it. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration lists sesame as a major food allergen, so label it clearly at gatherings.
How to make black sesame at home
For black sesame ice cream, we suggest a French custard base made with egg yolks. The Base Builder sets up that style for you and sizes it to your machine, in grams and cups. A Philadelphia base, with no eggs, also works if you prefer a lighter scoop.
Here is how to make black sesame ice cream at home. Toast black sesame seeds, then grind them to a paste with a little honey or sugar. Blend the paste into the warm base so it spreads evenly. No mix-ins are needed after that. Chill the base, then churn it as your machine directs.
If you already have a black sesame recipe you like, the Recipe Scaler resizes it to your machine and converts cups to grams. Keep in mind that the Base Builder gives a base formula built on standard food-science ranges. It is a starting point, not a tested recipe.
Base formula
Open the Base Builder: French custard (egg yolks)
Other styles that suit it: Philadelphia (no eggs)
The Base Builder gives a base formula built on standard food-science ranges, not a tested recipe.
What to serve with black sesame
Black sesame goes well with flavors from the same tradition. Serve a scoop next to matcha ice cream for a toasty and grassy pair that looks striking in the bowl. A drizzle of honey suits it well, since honey already helps make the sesame paste. Sweet red bean is another good match, either spooned on top or served alongside. All three keep the nutty sesame flavor at the center.
- matcha
- honey
- sweet red bean
How common black sesame is
The badge on this page is a new moon, our "Rare" tier, 1 of 5. That means black sesame is rare enough that you would most likely make it at home. The badge says how easy the flavor is to find, not how much people like it.
No survey we use lists black sesame ice cream by name. So for this flavor, the badge is our judgement alone of how easy it is to find. If you want a scoop, your own freezer is the most reliable place to get one.
No survey we use lists this flavor by name, so its badge is our own judgement of how easy it is to find.
- Rare Rare enough that you would most likely make it at home.
- Hard to find Look for it in specialty shops and seasonal runs.
- Sometimes found Found in some shops and some grocery freezers.
- Easy to find Common in most grocery freezers.
- Classic A classic you can buy almost anywhere.
Nutrition, roughly
FoodData Central has no record for black sesame ice cream itself. The figures on this page are for a plain vanilla base, regular to rich: 207 to 249 kcal per 100 grams. The regular base has 11 g fat and 21.2 g sugars per 100 grams. Its 1/2 cup portion (66 g) has about 137 kcal. The sesame paste and sweeteners you add change these numbers.
Nutrition per 100 grams
| FoodData Central record | Calories | Fat | Saturated fat | Sugars | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ice creams, vanilla FDC 167575 1/2 cup (66 g): about 137 kcal, 7.3 g fat | 207 kcal | 11 g | 6.79 g | 21.2 g | 3.5 g |
| Ice creams, vanilla, rich FDC 167573 | 249 kcal | 16.2 g | 10.30 g | 20.6 g | 3.5 g |
FoodData Central has no record for black sesame itself: these are the figures for a plain vanilla base, regular to rich. Mix-ins and sweeteners change them.
Questions people ask
What does black sesame ice cream taste like?
It tastes toasty and nutty, a little like peanut butter but deeper. The roasted flavor comes from toasting the black sesame seeds before grinding them into a paste and blending it into the base.
Why is black sesame ice cream gray?
The color comes from toasted black sesame paste blended into the base. Depending on how much paste you use, the ice cream ranges from soft gray to deep charcoal. No coloring is needed.
Which base works for black sesame ice cream?
We suggest a French custard base made with egg yolks, which the Base Builder can set up for you. A Philadelphia base with no eggs also works if you want a lighter scoop.
Is sesame an allergen?
Yes. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration lists sesame as a major food allergen. If you serve black sesame ice cream to a group, let your guests know what is in it.
More flavors to try
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Modern and unusual
Matcha (green tea) ice cream at home
Powdered green tea ice cream, grassy, a little bitter and creamy
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Modern and unusual
Sweet corn ice cream
Pale yellow custard that tastes like fresh summer corn
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Modern and unusual
Olive oil ice cream
Rich, fruity, peppery ice cream made with extra virgin olive oil
-
Modern and unusual
Goat cheese and honey ice cream
Tangy fresh goat cheese and honey in a smooth cream base
Plan and make it with these
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Mochi ice cream
Mochi ice cream: what sets it apart
Ice cream wrapped in sweet rice dough, with no standard of its own
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Recipe Scaler and Converter
Ice cream recipe converter: cups to grams
Scale an ice cream recipe by a factor, a batch volume or your machine, and see every line in grams and cups.
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Scoop size chart
Ice cream scoop sizes and the disher number chart
The number stamped on an ice cream scoop tells you how many level scoopfuls fill one quart, so a #8 holds 4 fluid ounces (1/2 cup) and a #16 holds 2.
Sources
- How Mochi Ice Cream Went From Little Tokyo to the World (Robert Ito) Alta Online
- Food Allergies: What You Need to Know U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- Ice creams, vanilla (FDC 167575) U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service
- Ice creams, vanilla, rich (FDC 167573) U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service
Every data source the site uses is on the Sources page.