I have 100% been loving the activated charcoal I recently bought. Yesteday I was sick and lying in bed and charcoal matcha madeleines popped into my head. The matcha and charcoal looked great together from the roll cake so I knew I had to execute these. I used the same protocol that I used for the first time I tried making stuffed madelines and it worked again and was delicious.

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.

I recently bought some activated charcoal since I saw so many places on IG using it! And then I saw a roll cake with matcha filling and knew I should try doing that! The filling was not stable enough to support the cake, so the cake sort of broke :(. I think actually rolling the cake like swirl may have been a better option. I also made a charcoal sablé and tried to incorporate it, but it really didn’t add much. That recipe was equal parts butter, granulated sugar, and almond flour with a tiny bit of charcoal heated in the oven until baked.

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.

I’ve been really loving Thai tea and black sesame. I’ve also been wanting to try making a buttercream, so made this Thai tea black sesame cake :D. This cake had 5 components. The actual cake (based off Vickii Ma’s ), vanilla/ black sesame buttercream, macarons (shells + buttercream or ganache filling), Thai tea white chocolate drip, and white chocolate shards.

1. Cake [makes four 1.5ish inch tall 6-inch cake layers]

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.

Matcha and ube are life, so combining them only seemed natural :D. This cake had 6 components. The actual cake, whipped cream frosting/filling, macarons (shells + lazy custard/ ganache filling), white chocolate drip, and the sail.

1. Sponge [makes three 200g 6-inch cake layers]

• 112g cake flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 5 large eggs, separated
• 156 g granulated sugar
• 8 g matcha powder
• 60 g whole milk

1. Oven at 400F. Line baking pan with parchment paper on bottom and grease the sides of the pan if you don’t have nonstick.
2. Whisk together sifted flour, matcha, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a different, large bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar, and milk until pale.
4. Separately, whisk egg whites until medium stiff peaks.
5. Add dry mixture to wet mixture and fold together. Then slowly fold in the medium stiff egg whites. I usually add 1/3 of the meringue first to make the batter light, then fold in the remaining egg whites.
6. Pour batter onto the baking sheet and then rap the sheet down a few times to release any big air bubbles.
7. Bake for 25 minutes (maybe a bit less) ([a toothpick should go in and out cleanly].
8. Bang the cake down and then flip over onto somewhere to cool. The cake should have receded from the edges so it should plop right out. Remove parchment paper and then once it cools enough to hold it’s own, wrap in plastic wrap and fast cool in the fridge.

2. (Ube) Stabilized Whipped Cream Frosting:

Black sesame is delicious and so is choux, so they make a great combo :). There are a few components here. The choux pastry, the black sesame diplomat cream filling, and the glaze (which really is just white chocolate with some food coloring).

updated 12/2020: I’ve updated the diplomat cream to increase the amount (a la Black sesame crepe cake)

Also take a look at Useful Recipes: Cream Puffs to see how to make a craquelin, which is also super delicious.

There are three components: the Thai tea creme brulee (recipe almost the same as Hot Thai Kitchen [changed water and sugar amounts]), a black sesame paste, and coconut and pandan caviar and jellies.

1. Thai Tea Creme Brulee: 4 or 5 small ramekin servings

• 240 g heavy cream
• 50 g water
• 120 g evaporated milk
• 40 g Thai tea leaves
• 80 g sweetened condensed milk
• 4 large egg yolks (~72 g)
• 12.5 g granulated sugar
• pinch salt
• a few grams sugar to brulee

1. Oven to 325 F.
2. In a pot on medium heat, bring whipping cream, water, and evaporated to a boil. Turn off heat, add Thai tea leaves and stir, and let steep for 5 minutes.
3. In a bowl, whisk sugar, salt, and egg yolks until smooth. Whisk in condensed milk.
4. Using a fine strainer, slowly add the Thai tea mixture over the yolk/ condensed milk. Whisk constantly.
5. Strain again and then add into ramekins. It is better to err on the side of shallow vs filling up to the top. Quickly get rid of big bubbles by torching the tops.
6. Put ramekins onto a sheet pan and then add hot water to fill the pan to about half the height of the ramekin.
7. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Tap the sides of the ramekins and if it jiggles a lot, it definitely isn’t done. But if it only jiggles a little like jello, it is probably fine.
8. Let cool a little at room temp, then transfer to the fridge. You want them to be completely chilled before bruleeing.
9. I use a round cutter to take the custard out of the ramekin but that doesn’t matter. Add a few grams to the top and spread evenly. Torch slowly until it bubbles and browns a bit.

2. Black Sesame Paste:

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.