black sesame brownie

My little babies! Have I mentioned that black sesame seeds are my new favorite obsession right now? I love these things so much. The flavor, and the nutty aroma are definitely the two things that managed to capture my heart. I had wanted to buy some black sesame seeds ever since summer started, but I hadn't been able to get ahold of them until the last week of my summer break - right before school started. Still eager to make something out of it, I wasted no time and decided to make something instead of packing up for college. Oh well.

Initially, I wanted to do a black sesame tang yuan - a sweet and chewy ball of rice flour that has black sesame in the middle - but that seemed a bit too difficult for me to make since I was particularly pressed on time that day... I'll make it over winter break or whenever I get back home though, because tang yuan is amazing and I could have it every day if I had the option to!

I settled for doing black sesame brownies though. Except I didn't really "settle" for them - I more like pounced on the idea and the recipe, because it seemed like such an easy thing to bake, and also because brownies have never failed me in the history of ever. And it really was a breeze to make, although there was a bit too much butter for my liking. I was a little grossed out to see so much butter swirling around in my pan, so I think I'll lower the amount next time...

Black Sesame Brownies (Recipe from Pig Pig's Corner)

Ingredients:

• 150 g unsalted butter - melted
• 100 g black sesame seeds
• 140 g caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
• 2 eggs
• 100 g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbs black sesame seeds (to sprinkle on top).

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 160°C (fan).
2. Combine melted butter and sesame seeds in a food processor or blender and blend until a paste is formed.
3. Add sesame paste to a pan, add sugar and soy sauce, fry for a few mins until fragrant (oil will start to seaprate). Remove from heat and leave this to cool.
4. When sesame mixture is cool to touch (warm is fine), mix in eggs one by one.
5. Gently fold in plain flour until just combined.
6. Pour batter into a lightly greased and lined square tin.
7. Sprinkle black sesame seeds on top. [Don't omit this step, as the sesame seeds add a nice crunch to the cake!]
8. Bake for about 25 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean.

They came out a little too sweet for me... It goes nicely with a cup of warm milk, but I know that if I remake this, I'll definitely cut down on the sugar and the butter. When the sesame seed paste is being stirred in the pan, you could really see the sesame seeds release their oils, and that along with the butter was a little too much for me. I even decided to pour some of the butter out so that I wouldn't have to work out for five hours or something. It tasted wonderful, but I know that this kind of thing isn't healthy at all - it made me feel a little guilty afterward, but it's not like I'll bake something like this all the time.

Now I wonder if I can do something similar to this but in a cupcake form...? I'm just eager to be reunited with my black sesame once again because I have so much planned for it.