Once in a while a cake recipe crosses your path and you know you just have to bake it. And this Tahini Cake with Chocolate Sesame Frosting and Caramel Shards shot up to the top of my seemingly endless list of “must bakes”.
The original recipe comes from Cloudy Kitchen and as I love anything and everything tahini, it was too good to resist baking. As I was gifted a set of AMC 16cm cake tins recently, I have been super keen to use them so this was a perfect opportunity. I had to convert the original sheet cake recipe to work for the 2 round pans and found this fantastic conversion table on Food52 so converting the recipe was pretty easy. Do refer to it if you’d want to bake this cake in other sized tins.
I really liked using the 16cm cake tins as it yields a cake big enough to serve 6 people. And with a cake this rich it is more than enough. I tweaked the recipe slightly, firstly reducing the sugar in the batter and frosting.
For a punch of sesame flavour, I added a teaspoon of sesame oil to the batter and icing each and think it works really well. The recipe calls for a dark brown sugar and I used a dark muscovado and while the flavour worked well, I found the texture to a bit too “wet” to mix in smoothly so would suggest you use a dark brown sugar with a drier texture. The sesame shards are super easy to make and I think it adds a bit of drama and festiveness to the look of the cake.
I hope you enjoy this recipe for Tahini Cake with Chocolate Sesame Frosting and Caramel Shards. If you’ve made the recipe share it with me by tagging @heinstirred on Instagram or Facebook with the hashtag #heinstirred.
Tahini Cake with Chocolate Sesame Frosting and Caramel Shards
Ingredients
- CAKE
- 125 g cake flour
- 200 g dark brown sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp bicarb of soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 130 g tahini well stirred
- 120 g buttermilk at room temperature
- 85 g water
- 63 g canola oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- FROSTING
- 85 g 70% dark chocolate melted
- 150 g icing sugar sifted
- 170 g unsalted butter at room temperature
- 40 g full cream milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- good pinch of salt
- SESAME SHARDS
- 150 g white sugar
- 2 tbsp water
- 3 tbsp sesame seeds
Instructions
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 180° C
- Grease and line 2 x 16cm cake tins with baking paper
- Whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, bicarb, and salt
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the tahini, buttermilk, water, oil, egg, vanilla and sesame oil
- Whisk on medium speed until the mixture is smooth and caramel in colour
- Gradually add the dry ingredients, using a spatula to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as necessary and whisk until just combined
- Pour the batter into the prepared tins and bake for 30 - 35 mins or until cooked through and a skewer inserted into the center of the cake should come out with just a few crumbs attached
- Cool completely in the tins before removing
- SHARDS
- While the cake is baking, make the shards by lining a small baking sheet with baking paper and sprinkle the sesame seeds on it
- Place the sugar and water in a small pot and bring to the boil
- Swirl the mixture until it is combined (do not stir) and boil until it starts to reach a dark golden, amber colour
- Carefully pour the caramel over the seeds, moving the pan so that all the seeds are covered with the caramel
- Set aside to cool completely
- FROSTING
- Add all the ingredients for the frosting, except the sesame oil, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk until the mixture is creamy, smooth, and a light brown colour.
- Whisk for about 5 minutes, scraping down the bottom and sides of the bowl with a spatula a few times
- Add the sesame oil, give it a good mix and decorate the cake with the frosting as you desire
- Break the cooled caramel into shards and decorate the cake
- Serve
I am so happy to share the news received recently that “My Vegetarian Braai” I co-wrote with Adele Maartens and styled and photographed, is the South African Winner in the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in the Barbecue category. It will now compete for Best in the World 2020 with winners from other countries in the same category. My Vegetarian Braai makes a great festive gift and is available to order online at Loot.co.za, amazon.com and at all bookstores. If you struggle to get a copy, let me know and I can arrange to have one posted to you.
Suzanne
Dec 10, 2019
Can this be made in advance at all?
heinstirred
Dec 10, 2019
Hello Suzanne
You could bake the cake and freeze it, then defrost and decorate. You would have to keep the shards in an airtight container but they will soften after a day or two. I would not make the frosting in advance.
Azzam Ejjeh
Dec 10, 2019
I never thought Tahini was so diverse I’ll attempt it soon. This looks so delicious thank you. And congrats on your co-authored book.
heinstirred
Dec 10, 2019
Thank you Azzam. Hope you enjoy the cake!