Triple-Sesame Tea Cakes Recipe (2024)

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Cooking Notes

Dbee

Wait! What?Directions say to "roll it (the dough) into a ball. Press into the sesame seeds..."Flattening it? Or leaving the dough in a ball and pressing seeds into all sides?Please be specific!

Crispy Feelings

He's saying to take a walnut-sized piece, roll it into a ball, coat with the sesame seeds and plae the ball on the sheet.

Jared

These would taste the same, but be more visually interesting with black sesame seeds.

Linda

This recipe worked perfectly for me. I made sure to beat the ingredients well, and the dough was easy to form and rolled well in the sesame seeds. Taking my cue from the picture, I didn't try to flatten them so much, just a little push with my thumb as I placed them on the sheet. The baked cookies were delicious -- sandy, but delicate, with a lovely nutty, sesame flavor. They are a wonderful foil to matcha ice cream!

Karen in Montreal

Some tahini is much drier than others, so I'd try adding a bit more tahini or a bit more sesame oil, if the dough came out too crumbly to roll into a ball. Or even a tablespoon or two of water, although that might shift the shortbready texture a bit.

Karekin

Believe it or not, if you eliminate the flour, you can get a very nice sesame/tahini crisp by increasing the tahini to 1 c, sugar to one c, no butter, no sesame oil....roll the balls in sesame seeds and bake. They stay fresh for weeks....

Jean

This was a very coarse, dry dough--like large, coarse bread crumbs until I used a great deal of force to press it together. Forming them was frustrating. Again, a great deal of force to press flat enough to capture the seeds and sit evenly on the baking sheet. They kept crumbling. I pressed the dough into a large tablespoon, twisted it free, KEPT MY HAND CUPPED AROUND IT, pressing it as flat as I could. Ultimately, only 2 went to pieces in the oven. Tasty, but FRUSTRATING-NO! FUN

Erica

Made exactly following the recipe and they are just wonderful with a nice cup of tea sitting by the fire. Perfect! Many thanks.

Richard

Oy vey! He means a plain old whole walnut.

Cat

Buy it toasted. It's a common ingredient in some East Asian cuisines and it's widely available. It's great to integrate into salads, other non-Asian dishes. It's a pantry staple for me. Just make sure to keep it in the fridge so it won't go rancid.

Esther Lee

I don't have a mixer any more, but my stick blender plus a fork did the job. My "walnuts" were evidently too big because I had to cook them 25 minutes. But they are delicious. I did press each one into the sesame seeds to get them to coat. And then reform the balls. It is a great recipe.

Cie

Used Asian toasted sesame paste. Slice-and-bake method worked very well. I cut my frozen logs into fat slices, rolled the coins in sesame seeds and baked. Five stars!

Carol Hawran

Recipe works fine; easy for me however I’m a professional, so I know how to cream fats and sugars, add dry ingredients, and adjust the dough as another reply indicates, etc. I found the rolling easy, dough was pliable however applying the sesame seeds was more time consuming than making the shortbread dough. I added dipping the dough balls in an egg white mixed w/a Tbsp of water much faster and seeds adhere more thoroughly. Taste delicious! Take time to cream the

Otis

An unusual cookie that positively must be served with some form of citrus, as the recipe suggests. By themselves, I felt they were lacking something (I think lemon or orange zest might be the ticket). But paired with an orange and it is an entirely different cookie. The earthy quality of the cookie is a lovely complement to the bright citrus flavors. I did find them to be a tad dry. Not a critique of the recipe, as I think my tahini had less oil than others. Just something to be mindful of.

HW

Really enjoyed making and easting these--a simple but beguiling cookie. I put the seeds into a saucer and simply pressed the ball of dough (once) into the seeds, so the seeds end up only on the top and the ball ends up slightly flattened. Turned out exactly as in photo.

Nancy

This came out beautifully and I didn’t change a thing. Perfect cookie for a cup of tea. I plan to try them again hand try some variations, orange zest and maybe a tiny drizzle of chocolate.

Jo

nice, but not amazing. I used extra tahini and less butter and sugar and they came out just fine. Perhaps my tahini was a bit bitter. Prob worth sourcing a really great one.

Karen in SF

These are easy, delicious and got raves from our guests! Had no trouble at all with the dough being crumbly, but after reading the notes I made sure to include plenty of the oil from the tahini. If your tahini is dry, perhaps add a bit more sesame oil. I used black sesame seeds because that's what I had in the pantry, and they were fine. I think a mix of black and white would create a fun look. Definitely a keeper recipe!!

merg

I made these gluten free by using a one for one swap with almond flour. The batter was not at all crumbly, so very easy to pinch off and form into balls. I rolled half the batch in regular sesame seeds and half in a mix of black and regular seeds. Nice to have both to share with my book group. Walnut size balls do make the result a tad large. Using almond flour also makes for less time in the oven. Great simple recipe that comes together quickly

Mindi

I worked about 1 tablespoon of grated orange zest into the sugar, otherwise followed the recipe exactly as written. Really lovely, and a great project for a rainy Sunday afternoon.

King Arthur

What kind of walnut? African or European?

Sir Robin

Blue...no, green!

c.mere

Made in 2 batches and I opened the oven door a few times checking doneness during the first one. The second was closed the whole time and got much more of the crackly texture. Delicious!

mrlukens

A near-copy of the sesame cookies served at the tea house in San Francisco's Japanese Tea Garden, and we loved them. I formed the dough with a small ice cream scoop, rolled in sesame seeds (used over 1/3 cup for the whole batch so they resembled the photo, could have used less), then flattened lightly with the back of a measuring cup. They spread not at all. 20 minutes left them a little over-baked; 18 was just right. Recipe made 4 dozen, not 2 dozen, so we got to eat twice as many :-)

frankeee

These were great, despite my overcooking half of the batch. I had the impression that the sesame oil would overpower the cookies. Wrong.

sarah

These are so good! Easy and sweet but not cloying. Omitted the salt and used good salted butter, sprinkled with coarse sugar instead of sesame seeds, and used a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop. Next time I’m going to add a splash of vanilla as someone else suggested.

Britt

Rather sandy (as expected) but great flavor. I added 30g extra sugar, orange zest, and a bit extra sesame oil to offset the extra sugar. The dough came together nicely. Based on other comments, I flattened half the balls and left the other half but honestly both were fine. Needed 25 min in my oven.Also added chili crisps to the last quarter of the dough as an experiment - delicious!!! Such a nice flavor combination, the sweet and spicy together.

Margaret

These are fantastic Middle Eastern melt-in-your-mouth cookies. Use weight not volume for great results. Use quality butter. Add 1 gram of salt. Use brown tahini made out of unhulled, roasted sesame seeds and a bit of salt. (Pale salt-free tahini is too bland for this recipe.) For authenticity add 1 tsp. of ground cardamom which is common in Middle Eastern pastry. Cardamon matches perfectly with the recipe. Enjoy!

PJ von Tannenbaumkopf

This has become a favorite recipe, beloved of family and friends, and they do go perfectly with tea or coffee. I use a bit less sugar than the recipe called for (120 g), which suits my taste better. Do be sure to let them cool before handling; they are very crumbly when hot out of the oven.

Monicaplace

Subtle and not too sweet. Added a tiny bit of vanilla.

Ali B.

ToysThese are incredible with coffee!!

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Triple-Sesame Tea Cakes Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why tea cakes? ›

Tea cakes were served for many gatherings and special occasions throughout history such as Prohibition, political gatherings, religious events such as baptisms, and even at funerals. As far back as October 25, 1774, an Edenton resident, Penelope Baker used tea cakes in her protest against the British Tea Act of 1773.

What is sesame cake made of? ›

Sesame seed cake (Chinese: 芝麻醬燒餅) is a cake made of sesame seeds, often combined with honey as a sweetener. The cake is round and is brown in color with sesame seeds sprinkled evenly on the surface of the cake.

How do you keep tea cake moist? ›

Don't overbake! This is probably the most important tip when it comes to keeping cakes nice and moist. If your batter is left in the oven too long the heat can cause the ingredients to become dry and crumbly. If you're a serial over-baker, investing in an oven thermometer can keep you on the straight and narrow.

What do Americans call tea cakes? ›

A teacake in England is generally a light yeast-based sweet bun containing dried fruit, typically served toasted and buttered. In the U.S. teacakes can be cookies or small cakes.

Is Tea Cake good or bad? ›

Hurston depicts Tea Cake as not simply a good or bad person, but instead as a real person who is complicated and not easily understood. At times, Tea Cake is motivated by pride, as when he refuses to leave the Everglades at first sign of the impending hurricane, prioritizing money over safety for Janie.

What is the use of sesame oil cake? ›

In India, sesame cake is often used as an animal feed when the oil is extracted at village level. The free fatty acid content of Indian ghani cake is high and its keeping quality is poor.

What is the use of til cake? ›

These cakes are the extracted form of sesame seeds after extracting the oil. Our til oil cakes are used widely to feed fish, poultry, swine and other domestic animals.

How do you use cake filling? ›

Heap filling on top of cake layer and spread in a back and forth motion without lifting the spatula. Then hold the spatula half way across the cake with the blade of the spatula flat against the surface and slowly rotate the cake pressing lightly to a full circle.

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