Chewy black sesame cake

This simple yet regal cake, adapted from Eric Kim's cookbook "Korean American" (Clarkson Potter, 2022), tastes like a mix between songpyeon, the honey and sesame-filled rice cakes served during Chuseok, the Korean fall harvest festival, and the kind of chewy black sesame rolls you might find at a Korean bakery. The density of the batter forces the celestial black sesame crumble upward so that it forms a perfect black line, which acts as a sweet, nutty brittle atop the squidgy vanilla base.