25 janvier 2006
SHF # 15 - Light as a cloud
Sugar Low Friday
White Sesame Mousse on pain d'épices and caramelised apricots.
My
first entry in a foodblog competition... I'm rather anxious. Reading
about sugar low Friday early January got me very excited, I had to be
part of it!
I had just came back from France then,
after two weeks of intense eating and drinking. Intense consumption of Foie Gras, chocolates
and wine had its impact on me... I was feeling like a diabetic
whale. This is why this challenge appealed so much to me.
Why sesame? well, I incresingly became a sesame fan over the past few months. Not savoury sesame, though. I think their biscuit-like flavour suits desserts better. I tried sesame panna cotta, sesame custard, sesame ice cream with nearly any combination of fresh fruit coulis. It has always been a winner.
Sesame adds a Japanese feel to the dessert. Japanese cuisine is always first in mind when dealing with low-fat,
low-sugar yet flavoursome and healthy desserts. It's also summertime
here in New Zealand and finding beautiful ripe fruits is a piece of cake, oops... watermelon.
I
like this mousse, it's very light and virtually fat free, which gives
it quite a melt-in-your-mouth, cloud-like texture. Delicious.
It's freely adapted from a custard recipe from Pierre Herme (Plaisirs Sucres). I swaped sugar for honey and cream for rice milk.
Basically the mousse is made of a sesame infused custard and whipped egg whites. (Sugar free).
I added a base of "Pain d'épices" (gingerbread) to the dessert. It is not necessary but it adds some texture to the mousse and its flavour works well with the sesame. It's free of "industrually engineered" sugar. Maple syrup gives a sweet note to the biscuit.
For a cup of custard you'll need:
-20cl of milk
-15cl of rice milk
-Sesame seeds
-2 teaspoons of honey
-2 eggs yolks
Toast sesame seeds until fragrant, add honey, leave for a minute or two, to caramelise. Then pour in milk and rice milk, bring to the boil and remove from heat. Let the flavours infuse for 1/2 hours.
Take the eggs yolks and whisk until thick.
Sift the liquid, discard sesame seeds and fold into eggs mixture. Place on very low heat and stir for 5/6 minutes or until the custard thickens. Remove from heat and stir slowly for another 5 minutes then pour into a bowl. (This bowl should be placed in a bigger bowl full of ice). Refrigerate overnight.
Mousse:
Beat eggs whites with a pinch of salt
untill peaks form on the surface. Take 1/3 and whisk vigourously into
custard. Add the rest a little bit at a time and fold gently. Place
mousse in fridge for at least 5 hours.
*Pierre Herme suggest the custard should warmed up before combining with the eggs whites.
Ginger Bread
-125g flour
-10cl milk
-Maple syrup
-Ground spices: Ginger, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon
-1 teaspoon baking soda (Dissolved in a little water)
-Olive oil
On low heat, melt maple syrup and milk.
Off heat add flour, mix well.
Add baking soda and spices and oil.
Bake on medium heat, 150°C for 30/35mins
Serve chilled with fruit coulis and/or caramelised fruits.
Thanks to Becks and Posh for this inspirational idea.
Commentaires
Mmm, that's looks amazing!
Wow! I'll definitely have to try this! Sesame in desserts is one of my all time favourites - particularly black sesame pudding or black sesame ice cream...
I love gingerbread and apricots too - so this looks like a winner!
thank you. I just forgot to mention I added a teaspoon of gelatine to the custard just before folding in the eggs whites. I thought since there was no cream or fat whatsoever, the gelatine would help holding the mousse together.
I have had some good sesame sweets in the past year too - our local chocolate maker has a wonderful sesame nougat, and I also had a sesame tuille in a restaurant which i loved. Must try more sesames in cooking (I put them in my florentine cookies for the last SHF by coincidence). I am happy to have discovered your beautiful blog. I am sorry I made you a little anxious, but I hope you feel better now you are over the first hurdle. It just keeps gettng more delicious from here on in!
mmmm it sounds both good and interesting!
Tuna Toast
This looks absolutely delicious. I also love sesame desserts- I just bought some black sesame Pocky at the Japanese grocery store- they were slightly sweet and nutty. It is too bad that there is a complete lack of sesame flavored desserts here in the United States.
Thank you all.
oh that's right I discovered sweet sesame in the Chinese little nougat cubes. Does someone have a recipe?
I'll try a black sesame mousse next time, or maybe a layered black/white mousse
Interesting Sesame Dessert
I don't know why I am so surprised at the idea of a sesame mousse since there are so many Chinese sesame desserts but your concoction looks really cool.
Is the sesame candy you are asking about a hard, brittle type or a softer, more Turkish delight-consistency type? 'Cos I have the sesame peanut brittle recipe in one of my books although I have never made it. Here it is just in case:
Sesame Peanut Candy
2 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup white vinegar
4 teaspoons water
1/2 cup sesame seeds, toasted
1 1/2 cups roasted, unsalted, skinless peanuts
Combine sugar, vinegar and water in medium saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring just until sugar dissolves. Cook without stirring until mixture boils.
Boil mixture without stirring until it is golden and reaches 295 degrees F to 300 degrees F or hard crack stage on a candy thermometer, about 10 minutes.
While sugar mixture is boiling, grease an 11 x 7-inch baking pan. sprinkle half of the sesame seeds and all of the peanuts evenly into pan. Pour sugar mixture over nuts in pan. Smooth surface with the back of a greased wooden spoon.
Sprinkle with remaining sesame seeds. Cool slightly.
While candy is still warm, cut into 2 x 1-inch pieces. Cool completely. Remove from pan.
Makes 2 1/2 to dozen pieces.
Hope that helps.
good!
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