Black Sesame Cake with Sour Cherry Glaze

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This recipe is part of a larger dinner party menu you can find on my Substack. The category is Bowl of Cherries, and it features five Korean-inspired courses centered around cherries. You can find the recipe booklet and a handy party prep schedule here.

I love how deliciously low-maintenance loaf cakes are. How approachable, snackable, and generally unpretentious they are. Sure, they may not elicit the same ooo’s and ahh’s a layer cake would get. But I’ve never seen a single person decline a slice. And decorating a loaf cake? Well, let’s just say, it’s a lot easier than those fancy lambeth cakes. Today’s Black Sesame Cake with Sour Cherry Glaze may be a humble loaf cake, but it makes an impact when it hits the table. Between the contrast of the dark, airy cake and the hot pink sweet and sour glaze, it brings considerable style to the table. The addition of sour whipped cream dollops and maraschino cherries solidifies its retro charm. And no, you don’t need a turntable or much more than a piping bag and tip to pull this look off. So let’s jump right in!

The Black Sesame Cake

This recipe starts predictably enough with the Black Sesame Cake. The cake is essentially a pound cake with a few tweaks. One of those tweaks is obviously the addition of black sesame paste, but I also knocked the flour back by half a cup, so the cake would be a little less dense. The oil from the sesame paste gives the cake an almost silky quality while adding depth and richness. 

This cake comes together simply enough. Essentially, you sift and whisk the dry ingredients together and set them aside. Then you cream the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. To that buttery fluffiness, you add the black sesame paste and eggs. Now, it’s time to put it all together by adding half of the dry ingredients to the wet. Once that addition is fully integrated, a splash of milk is added and also fully integrated. Repeat these steps one more time, and you should have a silky, smooth cake batter. Pour the batter into a prepared loaf pan and bake for an hour. And then let it cool completely. Easy stuff. 

The Role of the Black Cocoa Powder

Despite the addition of black cocoa powder, this cake isn’t particularly chocolaty. I included the black cocoa for the colour it brings to the cake, rather than its flavor. Without it, this cake would be dull grey, which, unless you’re attempting to mimic poured cement, is not ideal. But having said that, I am certainly not mad at the depth the cocoa brought to this dessert. It definitely gave it a richer, more earthy flavor, which is the perfect complement to the warm nuttiness of the black sesame paste. And speaking of black sesame paste, let’s talk about it. Black sesame paste may not grace your grocery cart all that often, so here’s what to be on the lookout for when trying to find it in the wild. 

What to Look for in a Black Sesame Paste

We want a black sesame paste made from unhulled, roasted sesame seeds. This will typically be a Japanese-style black sesame paste. Why do we want the sesame seeds to be roasted? When sesame seeds are raw, they tend to be bitter, astringent, and only mildly nutty. But when the seeds are toasted, they have all that warm depth you expect from a toasted sesame seed. And why do we want the hulls intact? Well, this, like the cocoa, has more to do with aesthetics. The black is just blacker. It still won’t get us to the finish line, but it will get us closer. And that’s where the black cocoa comes in, to make a dark, nearly jet black cake without the use of color gel.

While Japanese-style black sesame paste should be your first choice, it doesn’t have to be your only choice. The most important thing to remember when selecting a black sesame paste is that the ingredient list should be brief. It should say “roasted black sesame seeds” and nothing else. No sugar, no salt, no nothing. So make sure you flip the jar you’re considering around and give it a good stare. Any added seasoning in the paste will throw off the balance of the finished Black Sesame Cake. And this cake is perfectly sweet (but not sickeningly so) as it is. Be particularly wary of any products that use the word “butter”. They are more likely to have additives, emulsifiers, and potentially sugar and salt. 

Making the Sour Cherry Glaze

Your cake should emerge from the oven, a brilliant shade of black. It’s the perfect counterpoint to our hot pink Sour Cherry Glaze, which we’re going to get to next. Making the glaze couldn’t be simpler. All you have to do is sift some icing sugar into a large bowl. Sifting just helps you filter out any lumps and bumps in the sugar, so that your finished glaze is smooth as silk. To the sugar, add a couple of tablespoons of tart cherry juice. As with the black sesame paste, make sure you select a tart cherry juice that is made solely from tart cherries. No added sugar, no artificial flavours, just the genuine article.

Add as much juice to your glaze as you need to in order to achieve your desired consistency. I wound up using 2 1/2 tablespoons of juice to make the glaze in the pictures. I wanted it to be a true layer. But if you’re looking for a thinner, full-coverage glaze, I would up the juice to 4 tablespoons. Oh! And by the way, the color you see in the pictures is all natural. I’m not ardently against artificial dyes; I think they are an excellent tool in some instances, but man, I do love when nature does the aesthetic work for me. 

Once the glaze is on the cake, it’s time to leave it be. The glaze needs some time to set up. I typically like to glaze my cake in the morning before guests arrive. So by the time dessert hour rolls around, the glaze has had ample time to set. You could also do this overnight. Just make sure your cake is covered, or it will dry out. And don’t store the cake in the fridge – this will also dry your cake out. I like to store my cakes in a cake carrier, even if I’m not transporting them. They seal in the cake without coming in direct contact with it, so your glaze isn’t marred. 

When you’re ready to serve your Black Sesame Cake to your guests, it’s time to make the whipped cream. Honestly, I’m not going to spend much time here. Just pop all your ingredients into a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whip on high until stiff peaks form. You can also do this with a hand mixer. Then pop the cream into a large piping bag and pipe a few dollops on top of the cake. Pipe the remaining cream into a bowl to serve alongside the cake. It’s always good to have extra whipped cream on the table. Decorate your cream dollops with maraschino cherries, Luxardo cherries, or bourbon-soaked cherries. It’s a good idea to drain your cherries on a bit of paper towel before adding them to your cake. But even with that precaution, it’s best to serve your cake immediately after decorating. 

And that is your Black Sesame Cake with Sour Cherry Glaze done. Simple, straight-forward, and easy to prepare over a few days, this cake is a dinner party host’s dream. 

Enjoy!