Monkey Magic's Black Sesame Crème Caramel

This was my first time attempting a crème caramel at home. Is it really odd that I haven't made it before? It feels odd. I've done plenty of crème brûlées because it's so fun to play with fireeeee. Muahaha! But when I was younger, I always preferred the smoothness of a good crème caramel. When George from Wasamedia sent me a fabulous recipe for Monkey Magic's black sesame creme caramel with red wine poached pears & puff pastry twist (review here), it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try a crème caramel at home. I loooove black sesame in desserts when it is done well - it adds a such a unique and lovely smoky flavour.

Image courtesy of Wasamedia

I was lucky enough to get to try the real thing at the restaurant with Asian Gaga. We both loved the Monkey Magic style sushi selection (sml $19, lrg $34) and after we had stuffed ourselves full of sushi and other tasty dishes, we finished off the meal with the dessert you see above. The dark colour of the crème caramel contrasts beautifully with the colour of the red wine poached pears, and the simple twist of puff pastry covered in black sesame seeds adds a little bit of crunch.

You might notice mine looks nothing like the one from Monkey Magic. Sadface. There were several reasons for this. Firstly, I am lazy and couldn't be bothered doing the poached pears (I've never been a huge fan of wine poached pears). So I replaced the pears and pastry with some simple sesame crisp biscuits that I've blogged about previously. They are so delicious and really easy to make. I thought the white sesame in the biscuits would be cute with a black sesame dessert. This worked out pretty well in the end. Unfortunately I don't think the appearance of my crème caramel is quite up to standard. I didn't darken my caramel enough before adding it to the moulds, and I think I used the wrong type of black sesame paste (mine was made from a powder) and added too much water, so most of the black sesame ended up at the top and the bottom rather than giving the mixture a nicely uniform black speckle. Double sadface!!

Never mind, shit happens. The important thing is that this crème caramel is delicious. It's silky smooth, with that light but unmistakable smoky, nutty flavour from the black sesame paste. So even though I made a lot of mistakes, it's still going to get gobbled up. The one from Monkey Magic is still a lot prettier than mine. I will include the red wine poached pear recipe for those who are curious, but honestly the black sesame crème caramel is so good on its own, it doesn't need anything else. The sesame crisp biscuits are really moreish though, so I'm glad I made them! And just like Tomislav's Apple Crumble it was really fun to try a recipe from a restaurant, especially since I was lucky enough to try it at the actual restaurant first!

Monkey Magic's Black Sesame Crème Caramel
(serves 4, recipe courtesy of Chef Hidetoshi & Wasamedia)
For the caramel:
125g caster sugar
75ml water

400ml pouring cream
1/2 vanilla bean pod, split & seeds scraped (I used 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste)
3 egg yolks
125g caster sugar
1/2 tbsp black sesame paste

Optional: white sesame crisp biscuits (see here for recipe)

Stir caster sugar and water over low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and let mixture boil without stirring for approx 5 minutes, or until it turns dark golden brown. Carefully and quickly pour mixture in 4 x 1/2 cup-capacity ramekins/dariole moulds. Set aside

Preheat oven at 180C.Heat cream with vanilla bean to a simmer. Whisk yolks and sugar until creamed, and then add black sesame paste. Gradually add hot cream, continously whisking to combine. Strain mixture then pour into moulds over the caramel.

Place moulds in a deep oven tray, then add boiling water until it reaches halfway up the moulds. Cook in oven for 30-35mins. (I put too much water in my tray so it took closer to an hour for mine) Remove from the oven when just set, remove from tray and cool. Refrigerate until ready to serve, run a sharp knife around the edge of the mould to loosen before turning out on to plate.

Red Wine Poached Pears
1 Pear, chopped roughly
1 Nashi pear, chopped roughly
300ml Red wine
100ml water
100g caster sugar
½ cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
1 tsp black peppercorns

Combine all ingredients except pears in a medium saucepan and reduce liquid to 2/3rds. Add pears and cook until tender.

raspberri cupcakes & friend dined as guests of Monkey Magic, thanks to Wasamedia. This dessert is being offered as a Sugar Hit as part of the Sydney International Food Festival.

Monkey Magic
3/406 Crown St
Surry Hills NSW 2010

(02) 9358 4444
Mon-Sat: 6pm-10pm