Black Sesame Panna Cotta

A cross between a panna cotta and jelly, we used Three Trees Black Sesame milk, gelatin, cane sugar (to taste) roasted soy bean flour (traditional Japanese dessert ingredient) and kuromitsu (black sugar syrup) with a touch of miso for contrast on the tongue.
The result was creamy, light nutty with robust sesame flavor, a touch of sweetness and a bit of umami!

Recipe by Berkeley Bowl

  • For the pudding:

    • 1 bottle Three Trees Black Sesame Milk

    • 12 grams/ 4 teaspoons of powdered gelatin

    • ¼ cup cane sugar

    Toppings and sauce

    • Kinako (roasted soybean powder) to taste for each serving

    • Kuromitsu – available at stores or make at home using dark brown/black sugar and water to a 1:2 (water:sugar) ratio

    • White miso paste – to taste depending on how much kuromitsu you use I used about 1tst to one finished cup of Kuromitsu

  • To make the pudding:

    1. Add gelatine powder to two tablespoons of water and allow it to bloom

    2. Shake the black sesame milk thoroughly

    3. In a heavy bottom pan over medium/low heat, add black sesame milk and ¼ of sugar (more or less to taste).

    4. Stir to dissolve sugar.

    5. Add bloomed gelatin and stir until completely incorporated.

      Distribute mixture evenly into dessert cups

    6. Refrigerate until set

    For the toppings and sauce

    1. Kinako – lightly pan toast the kinako powder in a dry pan – set aside to cool

      • If you’re making your own Kuromitsu, combine sugar and water in a heavy bottom pan over medium heat to allow the sugar to melt and the syrup to form, then remove from heat and add miso, stir to combine.

      • If you’ve purchased Kuromitsu, pour the syrup into a small bowl, in a separate small dish, dissolve the miso with just enough water to dissolve the paste and combine

      2. To serve – top the pudding with kinako, and pour a generous dollop of Kuromitsu on top!