Friday 23 November 2007

CAKEBRAIN'S BLACK SESAME MACARONS

black sesame macarons with black sesame buttercream

Here's the recipe for the yummy Black Sesame Macarons I made a while back.

Cakebrain's Black Sesame MacaronsMakes 35
225 gr powdered sugar
100 grams ground almonds
25 grams ground black sesame
3 egg whites (about 100gr) at room temperature
25 gr granulated sugar

In a food processor, run the nuts, black sesame and powdered sugar until the mixture is finely ground. Run through a sieve if needed.

Whip the egg whites until foamy, slowly add the granulated sugar and continue whipping until they are glossy (stiff peaks).

Slowly fold the nut/sesame/sugar mixture into the whites with a wide spatula. The mixture should "flow like magma". When you form a peak, it should slowly dissolve back into itself and flatten.

Fill a pastry bag with the batter (I use a Wilton #12 tip) and pipe small rounds onto parchment lined baking sheets. I like to make small macarons about 3/4 inch to one inch in diameter. If you make your macarons too big (over an inch) they take longer to bake and may collapse if taken out too early.

Let the macarons rest for 20 minutes while you preheat the oven to 315degrees Fahrenheit.
Bake one tray on the middle rack for about 8 minutes. Look at the macarons. By this time, the feet should be forming. Whoopee! Once the feet have formed, lower the oven temperature to 300degrees F. Open and close the oven door slightly to allow a little of the heat and moisture to come out. Bake a further 4-6 minutes at the lower temperature.

Let cool, remove from the parchment paper and fill with buttercream or ganache.

11 comments:

karlsfoodie said...

A friend showed me your blog.. and i guess i gonna be a regular here from now on
U hve got pretty macarons here.. thanx for sharing the recipe..
Hope to try this soon!

Happy new Year

Cakebrain said...

Hi,
Thanks for visiting! Do try it. It's delicious.
Happy New Year!

Olivia said...

Hmmmm
I really wanted to try this recipe
but realized I have no seseme seed..
do you think it would work with green tea powder?
or maybe mango somehow..

Cakebrain said...

Olivia,
If you want to use matcha, go right ahead...it should be no problem. Just measure to ensure that your dry ingredients' total weight is the same as the total weight of the almond/sesame mixture. Personally, I wouldn't try mango unless you have mango powder. The moisture content will render your batter too wet for the delicate macaron look of frilly feet and light crispy shell. However, that being said, I'm only speculating because macarons are so temperamental. Give it a try and see and tell me how it goes!

happy baker said...

i am a big macaron fan...hand carried $300 worth home from Laduree. can't wait to try your recipe.

hope you'll join us at www.bakersmarket.com on oct. 3 in vancouver

KellylyChihiro said...

Hi ! I tried the black sesame macaron and I'm getting a problem of cracked macaron tops, I can see the feet forming but shortly after that, the tops started to crack down the centre.... do you have any advice for this situation? thank you! I envy your lovely Macarons!! - Wendy

Cakebrain said...

Hi Wendy,
aah. The dreaded cracked tops. I have seen this before and sometimes it has to do with the age of the egg whites. If at all possible, you should have at least 3 day old egg whites. I separate mine and leave them in the fridge covered in a selaed tupperware container until I need them. Make sure your oven is accurate because if it's too hot, it might also cause cracking. You have to also ensure that the "skins" on your piped macaron tops have formed. Lightly touch the tops before you pop them in the oven. If they are sticky, they're too wet and need to sit out on the counter until they're dry to the touch. It's a pain, but that's the most crucial step of all. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Just curious, do you have a butterceam recipe that you recommend for this recipe?

Cakebrain said...

Anonymous,
I love a good buttercream...and so if you want to go all the way, you should use a lot of butter and make Rose Levy Beranbaum's NeoClassic Buttercream or try a Swiss Meringue if you want to use egg whites to lighten up the texture. If you just want to get those macarons in your mouth quickly though, a simple buttercream using confectioner's sugar and butter will do. The Beranbaum recipe is on located my recipe tab. Martha Stewart's Swiss Meringue is nicely stable too.

Anonymous said...

They look awesome! Would you be able to provide measurements in u.s. measurements?

Cakebrain said...

Hi Anonymous,
Scroll down the right side bar to find a metric conversion widget.

LinkWithin

Related Posts Widget for Blogs by LinkWithin