Black Sesame Macarons

 Black Sesame Macarons

After what seems like my 100th attempt, I finally managed to bake a decent batch of macarons. Ever since my successful baking experience of the Green Tea Macarons beginning of this year, I have been trying without much luck. What did I do right last time? Was it the ingredients or the temperature of the room or maybe it was the folding process? I guess I just have to keep trying, a lot harder!

Like most Asians, my mum loves black sesame. She never had black sesame macarons before, however when I mentioned that I want to bake something with sesame in it she was ecstatic. Part of the baking process was to ground the roasted sesame seeds; the aroma immediately filled up the room and my mum couldn't be happier.

Leaving the piped cookies sit for 1/2(half) hour before baking to develop a shell.

Unfortunately not all of the cookies developed that perfect smooth shell with the little feet. Most of the shells were actually cracked with no feet, however they still taste pretty good!

Recipe for the cookies was obtained from here. I did not use the Swiss Meringue Vanilla Buttercream recipe for the filling.

For my Black Sesame Macarons filling, I used the following recipe which was too sweet for my liking:

- 125gr of White Chocolate, chopped finely

- 50gr of thickened cream

- 50gr of sesame paste

- 60gr of unsalted butter, room temperature

Method

1. Whisk cream and sesame paste together in a bowl.

2. Add the white chocolate into the cream mixture.

3. Melt the butter in a pot and add into the white chocolate/cream mixture, whisk until smooth.

4. Cool it down at room temperature.

Note: you can make the filling overnight and refrigerate to keep it fresh. Leave at room temperature before putting it onto the cookies.

What flavour should I try next?

Green Tea Brûlée

Spring has finally arrived in Sydney, well almost. The weather is still changing, with lots of rainy days and strong winds. I love spring, it is my favourite season of the year. Longer days, cool weather and gorgeous blooming flowers.

It has been raining the whole day, so the best way to make full use of this weather is to stay at home and bake. I am not in the mood to bake something that I have never tried before, but at the same time I still want to experiment with new dessert. Crème Brûlée is one of the easiest dessert to make and you can either make the classic vanilla flavour or be creative by mixing your own.

When I invited MyDateWithFood over for dinner a while ago and served her Passionfruit Crème Brûlée, she mentioned that her talented sister made Green Tea Brûlée using matcha (green tea) powder. So I steal her idea (I know she won't mind) and use my Passionfruit recipe to make the Green Tea flavour. I replace the passionfruit with one(1) teaspoon of matcha powder and add vanilla pod* into the milk/cream mix.
*Split open the vanilla pod and use the non-sharp side of the knife to extract the tiny black seeds.

I have fallen in love with this Green Tea Brûlée! The strong vanilla and green tea flavours blend perfectly and the taste reminds me of Japanese Green Tea ice-cream. I feel less guilty having it from the mini ramekin; a very light and refreshing dessert to end the night.