Name: Caribbean Sesame Seed Cake
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 10 servings
Cuisine: Caribbean
Ingredients: 300 g plain sesame seeds; 100 g roasted sesame seeds; 250 g sugar; 80 ml water; 1 teaspoon ground ginger; 1 a pinch of salt; 1 sheet oiled parchment, for setting; 1 an oiled rolling pin

Before you cook

The caramel stage decides everything. Too pale and the cake will not hold together; too dark and it turns bitter before you can pull it off the heat.

Cut it while still warm and slightly flexible. Once fully cool it hardens completely and shatters unevenly under a knife.

Method

Toast the plain seeds in a dry pan until golden and fragrant throughout.
Keep the toasted seeds warm so they do not cool the caramel too fast.
Heat the sugar and water together in a heavy pan without stirring.
Swirl the pan occasionally as the sugar melts and begins to colour.
Cook until it reaches a deep amber caramel, watching closely near the end.
Stir in the ginger and salt the moment it reaches that colour.
Tip in all the sesame seeds at once and stir quickly to coat them.
Work fast, because the caramel stiffens within about thirty seconds.
Scrape onto oiled parchment and press flat with an oiled rolling pin.
Score into pieces while warm, cool fully, then snap along the lines.

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