Black Sesame Macarons

UPDATE 2019 I now use 55 g almond flour, 50 g powdered sugar, 45 g egg whites, 45 g granulated sugar and bake for 25 min at 285F.

Update Jan 2020, lately I’ve been doing 305F for 20min. once again you just nead to learn your oven (going to leave this recipe at 285 though). See my notes in my General Macarons Recipe for the most up to date.

So these macarons are a basic shell with a coconut cream black sesame ganache filling. Super tasty! This is my most up to date French method recipe for the shells. I adapt this recipe for everything else. If I’m adding any other flavoring/ powder to the shell, I subtract it from the almond flour.

1. Black Sesame Macaron Shells: For about 10 1.5 inch macarons:

• 46 g almond flour (sift, no big almond pieces)
• 43 g powdered sugar
• 35 g egg whites (room temp)
• 25 g granulated sugar

1. Oven to 325F. Measure out and sift your powdered sugar and almond flour. Whisk together and set aside.
2. Make your meringue. I speed warm up my egg whites by putting them in a small container and then putting that container in a bowl with hot water. Takes about 5 min to bring up the temp and doesn’t cook them.
   Beat/ whisk your egg whites until frothy and start to incorporate the granulated sugar a bit a time. Beat until stiff peaks.
3. Macaronage. Look up on Youtube if you’re unfamiliar on how to do so.
   • Fold about half your dry ingredients into the meringue until just incorporated and then add the rest and continue folding until just incorporated. Now would be the time to add food coloring. Gel or powder, not liquid. Fold until you get a lava like consistency. Fold by scraping along the edge of the bowl to deflate the meringue a bit and then scooping the batter. Repeat. You should be able to pick up the spatula and have the batter fall down in a ribbon. The ribbon should incorporate back into the main blob after about 10ish seconds. If it doesn’t fall correctly, I do a few more folds.
   • Put into a piping bag with a tip.
4. Pipe out your macarons. I use a silpat (would highly recommend). Rap the baking sheet against the table a few times. Pop any air bubbles with a toothpick and swirl the toothpick around a bit to have that hole close up.
5. Sprinkle some black sesame powder on top of the shell.
6. I hate waiting for the shells to dry, so I cheat and dry the shells using the oven heat. I do this by opening the oven door and placing the tray on it, towards the edge. I then use an oven mitt or kitchen towel to help fan the warm heat from the oven over the macarons for a minute or two. I then let them rest on the table for a few minutes and repeat. This speeds up the drying process. Letting the shells form a shell is cruicial to not having any cracked macarons. You want to be able to touch the shell and have it not be sticky. Make sure it doesn’t shine and you’re probably good to go.
7. Bake for 9 minutes at 315F and rotate the pan and drop to 300F for another 9 minutes.

2. Black Sesame Ganache:

• 70 g white chocolate
• 30 g coconut cream
• 10 g black sesame powder

1. Add the black sesame and coconut cream and mix together in a small saucepan. Heat over low.
2. Add the white chocolate to a bowl and set over a double boiler. Turn off heat as soon as the white chocolate melts a bit.
3. As soon as the coconut cream warms up, turn off heat and add most of it into the white chocolate bowl. Let sit for 30 seconds - 1 minute, then start mixing together with a silicone spatula.
4. Mix thouroughly and then add to a piping bag. Cool to room temp, so it can hold it is not runny. You may have to play around with the amounts of the coconut cream to add.
5. If you decide to paint on any design to the shells, do it before piping the filling into the macarons. I was playing around with different designs, but honestly, the black sesame powder looked the best.
6. Pipe onto the macaron shells and assemble.
   

Enjoy!
-Mario