The Hands of Thyme

VEGAN | GF | GAPS DIET | PALEO Serves 4

This gorgeous black sesame panna cotta has such a lovely texture its almost like a mock cookies and cream, yum!

In this nourishing recipe, I’ve made a black sesame paste from scratch because you get far more goodness out of the seeds by doing it that way rather than buying something that has been preserved. However, if you prefer convenience then feel free to just use the paste just beware there are two kinds, sweet and regular. If you can, try to get the sweet black sesame paste and then you probably won’t need to add as much honey, I’d suggest to try adding half the amount. The savory paste will normally contain more sesame oil which will not taste as good with a dessert so you might be better off to just use my full method if that’s all that’s available.

Black sesame seeds have risen in popularity over recent years and are believed to be better for your health than regular sesame seeds. Just 2 tablespoons of black sesame seeds contain 18% of the Daily Value (DV) of calcium, 11% of the DV phosphorus, 83% of the DV Copper, 22% of the DV manganese, 15% of the DV iron, and 9% of the DV zinc.

And as well as being rich in minerals, black sesame seeds are extremely beneficial to your health because they contain a lot of antioxidants as well as anti-microbial and antibacterial compounds that help fight infection and oxidative stress caused by free radicals. Over the last few years, there have been many studies into the anticancer properties of sesame seeds finding two compounds in black sesame seeds – sesame and sesame to be believed to have anticancer properties.

But best of all, black sesame seeds taste delicious, and cooking with them is a great way to add some exotic flavor to your dishes.

Ingredients

1 can organic coconut cream

1 teaspoon of gelatine powder

3 tablespoons of hot water (not boiling)

2 tablespoons of honey

1 tablespoon of rice bran or coconut oil (melted if hard)

1/3 cup of black sesame seeds (found in bulk food stores or the spice section of supermarkets)

*Note – you can substitute the sesame seeds and oil for 1/3 cup of black sesame paste and skip to step 3

Method

1. First, you’ll need to make your black sesame paste by toasting your sesame seeds in a pan on medium to low heat for about 10 minutes. You will know when they are nearly done as the seeds will start to steam slightly and smell fragrant. Be careful not to burn them, you want to go for ‘lightly toasted’.
2. Pour the sesame seeds into a metal or glass bowl and leave to cool down. You can speed up the process by swirling them around in the bowl. Then blend in a food processor with the honey and rice bran or coconut oil (which you will need to melt if it is hard). You may need to stop the food processor and scrape the mixture off the sides a few times and repeat this process until you have a paste which can be a little chunky if you like – I think it adds a nice texture to the dessert.
3. Prepare the gelatine by adding it to the hot water in a small bowl or cup and stir, then set aside.
4. Heat the coconut cream in a medium saucepan until it is hot but not boiling. Stir occasionally as it heats and then remove from the heat once it has nearly begun to simmer.
5. Now you can stir in the black sesame paste. Leave this in the pot for about an hour until it has completely cooled down. Stir the mixture again to make sure that the sesame paste is not sitting on the bottom.
6. Pour the creamy mixture into glasses or ramekins, cover with cling film and leave in the fridge to set for 2-3 hours.

FOLLOW THE HANDS OF THYME 🌿