Black Sesame Cake with Raspberry Mousse
I am friends with Allie Mendelsohn for two reasons: literature and dessert.
The recipe
Yield: one layer cake, about 16 servings
Time: 3 hours, plus cooling and setting time
Ingredients
Cake:
1 box Duncan Hines Perfectly Moist Classic White cake mix
1 vanilla instant pudding mix (3.4 oz/96 g)
1 and ¼ c (325 g) milk
¾ c (120 g) vegetable oil
¾ c (122 g) toasted black sesame seeds, finely ground
4 large eggs
1 tsp (5 g) vanilla extract
Raspberry mousse:
1 and ½ tsp (4 g) gelatin
1 and ½ tsp (8 g) water
12 oz (340 g) frozen raspberries
¼ c (50 g) sugar
1 c (230 g) heavy cream
Frosting:
2 sticks (1 c or 226 g) salted butter, at room temperature
1 c (230 g) granulated sugar
¼ c (40 g) toasted black sesame seeds, ground finely
½ c (130 g) milk
3 tbsp (20 g) powdered sugar
2 tsp (10 g) vanilla extract
Instructions
Cake:
1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Prep two 9-inch round pans by greasing them with vegetable oil or butter and lining the bottoms with parchment paper.
2. Put the cake mix, pudding mix, milk, oil, ground sesame seeds, eggs, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
3. Stir on low until combined (about 30 seconds). Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl, then increase the speed to medium and mix for 2 minutes.
4. Pour the batter into the pans and smooth it out with a spatula. Bake for 25–30 minutes on the middle rack, until the center springs back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out with a few cooked crumbs clinging to it.
5. Once the cakes have cooled for 10 minutes in the pans, run a knife along the edges, then turn them out onto wire racks. Remove the parchment paper from the bottoms and allow them to finish cooling.
Mousse:
1. Place the water and gelatin in a small bowl and stir well to combine. Set aside for 10 minutes to hydrate.
2. Meanwhile, microwave the raspberries until they are completely thawed and a little warm (about 1 and ½ minutes).
3. Puree the raspberries in a blender, then strain through a wire mesh sieve to remove the seeds.
4. Microwave the gelatin in short pulses (5 seconds at a time) until it is fully liquid.
5. Stir the gelatin and sugar into the raspberry puree and mix until the sugar is dissolved.
6. If the puree is warmer than 80°F, set aside until it cools.
7. When the puree is cool, whip the heavy cream at medium speed in a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until it forms soft peaks (about 5 minutes).
8. Gently fold the whipped cream into the raspberry mixture until no streaks remain. Place the mousse in the fridge and leave to set for 3 hours.
Frosting:
1. Beat the butter, sugar and sesame seeds in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 4 minutes).
2. Warm the milk in the microwave until it is about room temperature (about 15 seconds). Add it a little at a time to the sugar and butter mixture, beating to incorporate each addition before adding the next, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
3. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and mix to combine. Turn the mixer to high speed and beat for 5–10 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved and the frosting tastes smooth instead of grainy.
Assembly:
1. Place one cake layer on a plate or a cake board. Pipe a border of sesame frosting around the top edge of the cake.
2. Gently spoon the mousse on top of the cake and, using an offset spatula, smooth it gently to the frosting border. Make sure the mousse doesn’t come up higher than the frosting border.
3. Place the second cake on top. Using an offset spatula, spread frosting around the sides and top of the cake.
4. The cake will keep, refrigerated, for a few days after baking.
Notes and tips
For a detailed discussion of mixing batter, lining pans, and how to actually know if cakes are finished baking, check out my Guide to Better Cakes.
I grind my sesame seeds in a food processor. Pulse until the seeds form a powder, but don’t go so far it turns into a paste.
Adding the sesame seeds when creaming the butter brings out their flavor. They infuse the butterfat with their taste and scent, just like blooming spices in oil does when you cook.
Soft peaks means that when you take the whisk out of the cream, it forms a little mountain and the top flops over a little, or the peak isn’t very sharp and defined to start with.
Be gentle when moving the mousse from the bowl to the cake, and try not to spread it too much. This will retain as much air as possible.
The story
I try not to call for niche ingredients. I hate going to three different grocery stores, scouring the international aisles multiple times, only to have to admit defeat, order it from Amazon, and have to wait days to bake the cake I wanted to make right now.
At least, not unless the dessert is worth it (my mini passionfruit cheesecakes and passionfruit donuts are a case in point).
But black sesame isn’t a specialty ingredient to Allie. She lives in the Bay Area, where Asian flavors area large part of the culture and there are two Chinese grocery stores within ten minutes of her home. Suggesting that we bake a black sesame cake was natural to her. And she assumed I’d be on board right away. After all, we developed the Chai Latte Cake together, which she’d suggested, and that was a resounding success. We sampled bubble tea, bingsu (Korean shaved ice), and ice cream, all on her recommendation, and everything we’d eaten was delicious. I trust her judgment when it comes to dessert.
But I balked at the idea. “I haven’t had a lot of black sesame before,” I said. “I’m not sure I like it, and I don’t have a vision for what the cake should taste like.”
“There’s this black sesame croissant in town that I’m obsessed with. Why don’t you try it before we decide?” she suggested.
I can never refuse an offer of dessert, so we went to the café and ordered one. The outside was clearly crisp and flaky. When I took a bite, I found the cream nutty and rich but light at the same time, a beautiful complement to the salted pastry. “I see what you mean,” I said. “This is delicious.”
Allie looked at me, expectation and hope in her eyes. She’s in grad school and Joe, her husband, works for a start-up—they don’t have time to bake. I was the only person who could make her cake dreams come true. Plus, I owed her. BC and I were staying with her and Joe in their apartment. I would be baking in their kitchen, using a lot of their ingredients (eggs included, and prices for those were through the roof). I wavered.
And then she offered to wash the dishes. My most-hated chore, off my hands for an entire week? All the fun of baking without the drag of cleaning up afterward? “Alright. We’ll try the black sesame cake.” Her face lit up.
I was still uncertain when the first cake went in the oven. The grey color looked unappealing, and I thought it would taste too savory. But we kept going, working on the frosting, assembling everything, and then it was time to taste test. I took a bite. The buttery, fluffy frosting next to the deeply toasty flavor of the cake was, to my surprise and chagrin, truly delicious.
Allie, here it is in writing, in front of the entire Internet: You told me so.
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This cake is stunning!
Love alllll of this. I am such a fan.