Brown Butter Black Sesame Banana Bread Cake

What I like about cakes, especially hand-whisked batters like this black sesame banana bread cake, is that the work-to-reward ratio is off the charts. A cake, even a single-layer one, is just always a showstopper. It signals time and care, and the communal aspect of slicing into something tops cookies every time. (But don’t worry, I still love cookies)

Black sesame is the big differentiator in this cake, with toasted black sesame mixed into the batter as well as incorporated into the not-too-sweet cream cheese frosting. When it comes to the white-sesame-vs.-black-sesame debate, I say it depends on what you are looking for. White sesame doesn’t have the exterior hull, making it softer, sweeter and more peanut-butter-nutty. Black sesame’s hull gives it a slight bitterness that I equate to coffee-nuttiness. Try black tahini and white tahini side-by-side and you’ll see what I mean.