These black sesame macarons are the perfect parcels of joy and sweetness to end a meal or to gift your loved ones! We’re releasing this exotically unique flavor combination as we’re in the middle of the Chinese New Year celebrations and what better way to get creative than to make asian inspired French Macarons!
We opted for a black sesame white chocolate ganache filling instead of a buttercream filling, as it’s creamier and leaves a less “fatty” – oily texture on your palate. And who doesn’t love chocolate!
Macarons can be daunting to make as they require a lot of care and precision. But don’t worry – our recipe will outline several tips and tricks to ensure that you’re set for success! Practice makes perfect and once you get the hang of it, they are totally worth making!
French Meringue vs Italian or Swiss Meringue
When it comes to making macarons, there’s a constant debate on which method is better. The French meringue or the Italian or Swiss meringue? Each method has its pros and cons, but this black sesame macaron recipe uses the French Meringue technique, which gives you a more “melt in your mouth” texture.
Though this method requires less time and kitchen equipment to whip (you don’t need a thermometer and requires less sugar), it also results in a less stable meringue as the sugar is not pre-cooked, like the other two methods. The French meringue is more delicate and more sensitive to humidity, thus can be more complicated to “nail”. But the final macaron, if made properly will have a better texture.
The Perfect Meringue
- Ensure your mixing bowl and whisk attachment is clean and dry (no water residue)
- Start whisking the egg whites on low speed until it’s frothy. At this stage, add 1 tbsp of sugar
- Continue whisking at low speed until the egg whites are foamy (starts to thicken and turn white in colour). At this point, increase the speed to medium and add in half of the remaining sugar.
- Keep whisking while gradually increasing the speed to high. You will then reach the “soft peak” stage (that’s when the egg whites are thicker and creamier consistency). Add the remaining sugar and whisk on high speed for another minute or so until stiff peaks.
Tips & Tricks
- Macarons hate humidity! If you’re trying to make them in a tropical and humid country, like us, ensure that you make them in an air-conditioned room. If you have a dehumidifier, turn that on as well! We also suggest drying your macarons next to the dehumidifier.
- Do not open the tap while making macarons. As mentioned above, macarons do not like humidity. So refrain from washing the dishes, your hands or simply using water while making them.
- Age your egg whites for more stability. Since we’re using the French method, aging your egg whites 2/3 days or 1 week in advance is recommended. It is not necessary, but will aid in giving you more stable meringues. Simply crack your eggs, separate the whites from the yolks and allow the whites to age in an airtight container in your fridge.
- Use the best quality ingredients! But most importantly, use the most refined almond meal and icing sugar you can find. As a rule of thumb, blend your almond meal and icing sugar in a mixer and sift them 2-3 times. This will give you a smoother macaron shell!
- Let your finished macarons sit 12 hours in the fridge in an airtight container before eating them. This will allow the shells to absorb the filling as well as soften, giving them that distinct chewy texture.
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Black Sesame Macarons
Course: Something Sweet, DessertDifficulty: Difficult20
servings30
minutes10
minutes30
minutesIngredients
- Black Sesame Filling
150g White chocolate, roughly chopped
75 g Black sesame paste
105ml Heavy cream
- Macaron Shells
100g Icing sugar
100g Almond meal
2 Egg whites
100g Castor sugar
2 tbsp roasted black sesame seeds
Directions
- Black Sesame Filling
- Place the roughly chopped white chocolate and black sesame paste in a heat-proof bowl
- In a saucepan, over medium heat, bring the heavy cream to a simmer
- Then pour the hot cream over the chocolate and black sesame paste
- Using a whisk, mix the filling vigorously until smooth and well combined. Set aside to cool, then refrigerate until it hardens to a thick peanut butter consistency.
- Macaron Shells
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- In a blender, mix the icing sugar and almond meal, until you obtain the most refined mixture possible.
- Then sift the almond meal mixture 2 to 3 times into a bowl.
- Beat your egg whites until stiff peaks as per the instructions above. You know they are ready when you can turn the bowl upside down over your head and nothing should move.
- Then sift the almond mixture over the meringue
- Using a spatula, fold in the almond meal into the meringue until it has a molten lava texture. You know your mixture is ready when lifted out of the bowl, the mixture ribbons unevenly and slowly melt back into the bulk mixture.
- Scoop your mixture into a pipping bag with a round tip nozzle of about 1cm. Then pipe your macarons (approx 3cm diameter), leaving 3-4cm between each of them.
- Once all piped, gently tap your baking tray against your table counter top to remove air pockets and smoothen the macaron shells.
- Then let the macaron shells to dry out in a cool and dry place for about 30mins (or more depending on humidity). You know they are dried out and ready to bake when they form a skin and the batter doesn’t stick to your fingers when touching them.
- In the meantime, preheat your oven to 170 C.
- Once your macarons are dried out, bake them 1 tray at a time on the middle rack for about 7-8mins.
- Once baked, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool down on a wire rack
- Assemble
- Pair your macaron shells
- Scoop your filling into a piping bag, then pipe a small or generous amount of filling in the middle of 1 shell and sandwich with another. Continue until you sandwich all macarons
- To intensify the flavor and texture of the macarons, let them rest in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 12 hours.
