Noona's Black Sesame Bon Bons
with Noona’s Black Sesame Ice Cream
By: Jessica Delph
Okay, growing up, bon bons were not a household staple, they seemed to be reserved only for the occasional movie theater experience. What are they exactly? Ice cream bon bons are nibbles of delicious mounds of ice cream covered in chocolate. You win on two fronts, one being totally delicious ( no brainer) and two, no fuss and convenient. I’m not quite sure why bon bons were sensationalized at the movie theater, but there is something magical about watching a story and eating your favorite snack. Especially if it’s with loved ones.
Although there are variations of bon bons you can buy store-bought such as Dibs or ones at Trader Joes, you may find that making them at home tastes so much better. Who knows, they may even make you queue for your Netflix and Chill night. This recipe, using our black sesame ice-cream, has a thin layer of “anko” at the bottom. Anko is sweet red bean paste, or what you'll find in the center of many mochi snacks. You can find it pre-made in many asian markets or if you have time and adzuki beans you can make it at home ! This time, I highly suggest you go straight to your local H Mart and pick it up Sweet Red Bean
This 3-ingredient bon bon is simple and will have you craving more!
Ingredients
Yields 2 servings
1/2 pint of Noona’s Black Sesame Ice Cream
¼ of a cup of sweetened adzuki beans
½ to 1 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips
small sandwich sized ziploc bag
How To Do It
Pour ½ of chocolate chips in a bowl and we will temper the chocolate in the microwave or on the stovetop. I tried the microwave method and microwaved the chips for about 1 minute ( and then follow up with increments of 30 seconds until it is all melted. This depends on the strength of your microwave), mix with a spatula making sure the chips have melted evenly.
2. Pour the remaining ½ of chocolate chips in the melted chocolate to simulate tempering.
3. Set out liners on a small parchment lined cutting board or small baking sheet to prep.
4. Use the back of a spoon or tiny kitchen brush and push as much melted chocolate in the liner as you can. We want to make sure that the liner is covered in chocolate from the bottom and the sides, all the way to the top, leaving no nook or crannies empty.
5. You should end up with about 6-7 mini liners filled, you can then put the liners in the freezer to set for about 12-15 minutes.
6. To prepare, you will want to open up the can of sweet adzuki beans, take out a specified amount and store the rest in a container.
7. After 12 minutes, take out a pint of Noona’s Black Sesame Ice Cream first and then follow up with the liners!
8. Spoon a little of the sweet adzuki beans on the bottom of the liner and then follow up with the ice-cream and fill up each liner all the way to the top. What will dictate how much sweet beans you put is your preference. The beans add more of a creamy, nutty texture to the bon bon.
9. Smooth out the ice cream with the back of the spoon to ensure it is flat ( for the final layer of chocolate). Put back in the freezer while we temper the remaining chocolate.
10. Any remaining chocolate is going to be reheated and you will top off the bon bons. Place leftover chocolate in the microwave for 1 minute. Add any additional chips as needed, ¼ cup at a time.
11. Place melted chocolate in ziploc bag, squeeze all air out of bag pushing melted chocolate to one bottom corner of the bag, and close securely. Snip the tip of the bag with a scissors to create a make shift piping bag.
12. Squeeze the chocolate over the ice cream quickly “ pali-pali” (an expression which means “quickly” in korean) with the back of a spoon, Why ? The melted chocolate will solidify and set VERY quickly over the ice cream. Make sure you spread the chocolate over evenly.
13. Place back in the freezer, at this point you can pop them out in as soon as 5 minutes, wait until after dinner or even pop them in a ziploc bag and store overnight. Enjoy!