Single Pebble Project: Black Sesame Cake, with Honeyed Cream

I'm back on the horse, testing recipes for local restaurant A Single Pebble, after my last experiment ended in in hilarity and goop; while staying with my in-laws in Wisconsin, I made a Five Spice Flourless Chocolate Cake, then fell down the stairs while carrying the just-glazed confection to the basement fridge. There was cake on the wall and cake on the carpet, but mostly there was cake ALL over me. It exploded, but as my gracious Mother-in-law Mary assured me while scooping some off the floor, it was also delicious.

Putting that behind me, here's a lovely black sesame cake that I made last night for friends, which we ate over games and conversation on a wet, sleety evening. I got the recipe from Alice Medrich's wonderful book "Pure Dessert", and loved the moist texture, the nubbly crunch of black sesame seeds, and the rich flavor that this cake gets from toasted sesame oil. A keeper! Try the recipe, after the jump.

Sesame Seed Cake, from Alice Medrich’s Pure Dessert

makes one 8-in round cake

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, room temperature

2 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

8 tablespoons butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature

1/4 cup toasted black sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom and sides of a cake pan, and line it with parchment.

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl and set aside.

Beat the eggs together in a bowl with a whisk. Add the sesame oil and vanilla and thoroughly combine.

Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat with the paddle attachment on medium for a few minutes to soften it up. Add the sugar and beat for several more minutes until it is light-colored and fluffy.

Add in the egg mixture a little at a time while the mixer is still running, letting it slowly combine over a couple of minutes.

Stop the mixer and pour in a third of the flour mixture, and beat just until combined. Scrape down the sides as necessary.

Add half the buttermilk and beat until combined.

Repeat with half of the remaining flour mixture, the rest of the buttermilk, and finally the rest of the flour mixture with the sesame seeds. With each addition, beat it only until it is just incorporated.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the oven for about 30-40 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let the cake cool on the rack for a few minutes before unmolding. If you baked the cake in a regular cake pan, invert it onto the rack, and turn it right side up to finish cooling.