Midnight Black Sesame Hotcakes: Fluffy Japanese Pancakes with Kurogoma Butter and Honey

Grind the 1/3 cup black sesame seeds in a spice grinder or mortar until they turn into a coarse, slightly oily powder; stop before it becomes a paste.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup toasted black sesame seeds, plus 1 tbsp for sprinkling
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp fine salt
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the griddle
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 tbsp softened unsalted butter, for the sesame butter
• 2 tsp black sesame paste (neri goma) or finely ground black sesame
• Honey, for serving

Instructions

1. Grind the 1/3 cup black sesame seeds in a spice grinder or mortar until they turn into a coarse, slightly oily powder; stop before it becomes a paste.
2. Whisk the ground sesame with the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
3. In a second bowl, whisk the buttermilk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla until smooth. Pour the wet mixture into the dry and fold with a spatula just until no dry streaks remain; a few lumps are fine. Rest the batter 10 minutes so the baking powder activates and the color deepens to charcoal gray.
4. Meanwhile make the kurogoma butter: beat the softened butter with the black sesame paste until evenly streaked jet black. Shape into a log in parchment and chill.
5. Heat a nonstick skillet or griddle over medium-low and brush lightly with butter. Ladle 1/3 cup of batter per hotcake and cook 2 to 3 minutes, until bubbles form across the surface and the edges look set.
6. Flip and cook another 2 minutes until the hotcakes are puffed and springy. Keep warm in a low oven while you cook the rest, wiping and re-buttering the pan between batches.
7. Stack three hotcakes per plate, top with a coin of black sesame butter so it melts into dark pools, drizzle generously with honey and scatter the reserved sesame seeds over the top.
8. Serve immediately while the butter is still melting; the hotcakes are best hot from the griddle.
9. Black sesame, or kurogoma, is one of Japan's oldest flavorings, pressed into tofu, ground into dressings and swirled into ice cream for a nutty, faintly bitter depth that sweetness only sharpens. Japanese hotcakes themselves are a Western import that arrived in Tokyo coffee houses in the early twentieth century and have grown ever taller and fluffier since. Grinding the seeds into the batter turns a Sunday stack an eerie midnight gray, which makes this the perfect breakfast for the last week of October: a little spooky on the plate and completely comforting on the fork.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 520 kcal
• Protein: 14g
• Fat: 26g
• Carbohydrates: 60g
• Fiber: 4g
• Sugar: 22g
• Sodium: 640mg