little miss sweetie: Black Sesame Gelato

I totally under-utilize my ice-cream maker attachment. It is so easy to make and so much tastier than store-bought ice-cream or gelato! Regrettably for some odd reason, I've used the attachment exactly 4 times since buying it a year ago. From this day on, I vow to use it much much more often!!

Gelato and ice-cream are very similar delights. Ice-cream tend to have more air whipped in, creating a more airy and creamy dessert. Gelato, on the other hand, uses less, if any, whipping cream, producing a denser but more flavorful treat. It is essentially creme anglaise, cooled and churned in an ice-cream maker. Add a little whipped cream to the mix, it becomes ice-cream. As my diet of late has involved at least one stick of butter daily, I decided to go the "healthy" route and omit the heavy cream. My "healthy" gelato turned out quite rich and delicious...even without the cream!

A note on black sesame paste. It can be found at most Asian supermarkets, though different brands will differ in the amount of sugar used, hence the sweetness of the sesame paste will differ. Adjust your sugar in the gelato accordingly! I underestimated the sweetness of the paste and my gelato ended up a little on the sweet side...well, at least I made an conscious effort to be healthy!

Black Sesame Gelato

5 egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups milk (I used 2%, but can be substituted for whole)
3 tablespoons black sesame paste

*1/2 cup heavy cream, only if making ice-cream instead of gelato

In medium size mixing bowl, whisk together egg yolks and 1/4 cup sugar until color becomes a pale yellow.

In a small saucepan, heat milk, sesame paste and remaining sugar until hot but not boiling.

While whisking egg mixture, slowly stream in hot milk. Keep whisking to avoid cooking the eggs! Return entire mixture to saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon, about 3-4 minutes

Pour mixture over a fine sieve into a bowl, discarding any lumps. Let cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic film and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Set up ice-cream machine or attachment. (If adding heavy cream, whip to soft peaks and fold into chilled mixture.) With the machine running on low speed, slowly pour in chilled gelato mixture.