last october, I visited iceland, a country that had long held my imagination, and encountered some truly stunning scenery. it was the end of october, the beginning of snow flurries and frost, and the final vestiges of fall colors scattered in the brush and gorse. there were moments where I would walk around a bend, or enter a valley, and canyon vistas, waterfalls, and rivers would reveal themselves, stunning and surprising. I could not believe how lucky I was to be able to experience it all.
the trip also marked the first time I had traveled with my parents in years. we traveled along the coast, from the black sand beaches inland to the highlands, sliced by deep ravines formed by deep waterfalls, then back to the coast, where lagoons were filled with floating chunks of ice from the melting glaciers that once covered the island. we saw sheep scaling impossibly sheer cliff faces. we visited a small ice cave and learned how much climate change has altered the landscape of iceland in just the past decade.
the stark, stunning landscape and the gratitude of being able to experience it with the two people who raised me made the trip particularly meaningful. when I made this tart, I started to make edits to the original recipe without even fully realizing any clear vision, but once I saw and tasted it, I got flashbacks to iceland, experienced through my asian family’s lens.
the black sesame-flecked whipped cream felt like the sand-studded ice we saw floating in the lagoons and washed up on the shore. and in the black cocoa and black sesame, I found notes of earth and smoke with a savory undertones, reminiscent of the volcanic lava fields we traversed and the salt air we breathed in on the beaches and seaside cliffs.
funnily enough, I’ve made this tart twice now, and neither time was for my parents. that being said, now that it’s perfected, I’m looking forward to the next occasion where I can bring this to them.
makes one 9-inch pie
128g (1 1/2 cup) graham cracker crumbs
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp kosher salt
57g (4 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
chocolate black sesame pudding
420g (1 3/4 cup) whole milk
150g (1/2 cup + 2 tbsp) heavy cream
40g (2 1/2 tbsp) black sesame paste
30g (1/4 cup) cornstarch
150g (3/4 cup) granulated sugar
15g (3 tbsp) black cocoa powder
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp salt
70g bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
whipped topping
360g (1 1/2 cup) heavy cream, very cold
2 tsp vanilla extract
15g (2 tbsp) confectioners’ sugar
15g (1 tbsp) black sesame paste
elisabeth m. prueitt and chad robertson. tartine. san francisco: chronicle books, 2006.
nicole rucker. dappled. new york: avery, 2019.
2 combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and melted butter in a mixing bowl and mix until moist crumbs form.
3 transfer the crumbly mixture to a 9-inch pie plate and press into the bottom and up the sides of the pan. bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.
4 allow the crust to cool before filling.
pudding|1 prepare a fine-mesh sieve over a large heatproof container. combine the milk, cream, and sesame paste in a heavy, medium saucepan and heat to just under a boil.
2 meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, combine the cornstarch and sugar, and sift in the cocoa powder. whisk until blended.
3 in another mixing bowl, whisk the eggs with the salt until blended, then add to the sugar mixture and whisk until well combined.
4 slowly add half of the hot milk mixture to the egg mixture while whisking constantly. pour the egg mixture back into the pan with the rest of the milk mixture and cook over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, whisking constantly, until the mixture has visibly thickened and registers 208°F on a thermometer.
5 immediately pour the contents of the pan through the sieve. whisk in the chocolate and let the heat of the milk-egg mixture melt it. when the chocolate has melted, blend with an immersion blender until no lumps are visible (~5 minutes), scraping down the sides of the container with a rubber spatula as needed. the pudding will keep, well covered, in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
topping + assembly|1 pour chocolate pudding into cooled pie shell. refrigerate until the surface is cold and set (1 1/2 hours).
2 pour cream, vanilla, and black sesame into the bowl of a stand mixer. whisk on medium speed until the whipped cream holds medium to firm peaks. using an offset or rubber spatula, spread the whipped cream on top of the chocolate pudding, just to the edges of the crust.
3 chill pie until cream is set (~1 hour); it will keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
fort juniper 