black sesame syrup

We like making syrups, or juice reductions a lot. It's simple, and you can use it in many other recipes afterwards. Reductions that aren't sweetened with sugar are great as an add-on to sauces, or when used alone as a 'glaze'.

We used a technique by the cook Mike Case, he made a white sesame syrup to use in cocktails. We liked not requiring a blender to make it, blending sesame seeds into a smooth liquid is tough, my immersion blender can't grind seeds finely. Boiling the seeds, and then straining them out is simple, and since you can re-use the seeds afterwards, there's no waste. Toasting the seeds beforehand helps to bring out the nutty flavor, so don't skip that step.

This syrup pairs well with ice cream, especially those with subtle flavors like coconut and vanilla. It's delicious on fruit ice cream too. To make fruit ice cream, slice fruit of choice thinly. Lay a sheet of parchment paper over a plate, and lay your fruit overtop (this will keep the fruit from sticking). Let them freeze for a few hours, then run them through an immersion blender. You can use almost any fruit to make it, but it works especially well for mango and bananas.

You can use the left-over seeds to bake into desserts, or to add as an extra topping.