Old-school meets new-school in this classic buttery sour cream coffee cake flavoured with nutty black sesame and a swirl of sweet Korean honey-quince tea. This definitely ain't your bubbie's coffee cake!
Author: Isabelle Boucher (Crumb)
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 16
Ingredients
1 cup Stirling butter, softened
1½ cups sugar
3 eggs
1 cup Gay Lea sour cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
¼ cup roasted black sesame seeds
2 ¾ cups flour
2 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
¾ cup mogwacheong (Korean honey quince tea), divided
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F. Generously grease a 12-cup fluted tube pan, and dust with flour.
In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the sour cream, vanilla extract, and sesame oil.
Using a coffee grinder or a small food processor, grind the sesame seeds into a fine powder. (Don't overprocess - you'll end up with black tahini!) Stir into the wet ingredients, mixing until well combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients, and stir until the mixture comes together into a thick, smooth batter.
Spoon one third of the batter into the prepared pan. Spoon ¼ cup of the honey-quince tea on top of the batter, staying away from the edges of the pan. Top with half of the remaining batter, following by another ¼ cup of honey-quince tea, and then finish with the last portion of batter.
Bake in preheated oven for 55-60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out with a moist crumb. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then carefully invert and unmold. Brush the surface of the cake with the reserved ¼ cup quince tea, then tansfer to a wire rack to cool off completely.
Notes
Both the toasted sesame seeds and the honey-quince tea can be found at any well-stocked Korean or Japanese supermarket, or ordered online. If you're in Toronto, I'd suggest checking out the Galleria Supermarket in North York, H-Mart at Yonge and Bloor, or P.A.T. Central in the Annex.
Recipe by Crumb: A Food Blog at https://www.crumbblog.com/black-sesame-coffee-cake-with-quince-glaze/