So it’s been some time since i made macarons. But i had this really bad urge to make them today! Just the other day, i was at Isetan, a japanese supermarket here in Singapore. I just intended to get more green tea powder, until i saw roasted black sesame seeds! Just had to grab them. No idea at that point of time what to make though.
So today.. On a really cold and rainy day, i decided to make black sesame macarons 
I googled it and tumbled upon this blog. And she actually got the macaron recipe from Martha. I’ve used her recipes before and quite liked it. So why not?
So i started by grounding the roasted black sesame seeds. The aroma of it was overwhelming. The first thing that came to mind was my favourite black sesame ice cream apart from my usual matcha at a japanese restaurant.
Roasted Black Sesame Macarons
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
3/4 cup ground almonds
1/4 cup finely ground black sesame
6 tablespoons egg whites (I just used 3 egg whites)
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
I food processed my ground almond, ground black sesame and icing sugar to make sure there’s no lumps.
Whip the eggs whites with a pinch of salt and slowly adding in the granulated sugar until you get soft peaks. Add the dry ingredients to the egg whites and start folding. I put my dry ingredients half at a time. Makes things easier.
You should get a slow moving batter. Aka the flow-like-magma consistency.
Pipe the macaron batter onto baking paper.
Top off with some sesame seeds to make it prettier
Bake at 320F (160C) for 12 mins.
Let cool!
I’m totally digging the colour.
Initially i wanted to fill it with a black sesame buttercream. But when i tried one macaron shell, i found the taste of the black sesame very very overwhelming. So i figured a vanilla buttercream will do awesome.
I used a swiss meringue buttercream. Recipe from Tartelette.
Swiss Meringue Vanilla Buttercream
1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
2 large egg whites
1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 vanilla bean, split open and seeded
Heat the egg whites and sugar in a saucepan and keep stirring. You don’t want to burn or cook the egg whites! Stop only when the sugar has completely dissolved.
Transfer to your mixer and with a whisk attachment, whisk!
It’ll look like yummy marshmellow cream
Switch to your paddle attachment and beat in the butter and vanilla!
Pipe, sandwich and devour!
Side note..
I got pretty cupcake earstuds yesterday! Heheheh.
Had to pop in–LOVE your blog name!
awww. thanks sweetie!
and thanks for dropping by
Wow. They look so appealing. I’m craving them right now… :O
They look so perfect!
why thank you isabel!
well satisfy your craving by making some
thanks for reading!
Oh they’re perfect! They look so squishy and fat with good feet-just the way I like my macarons
wow. perfect is a really strong word you know! hahaha!
thank you lorraine
i love how they turned out too! heh.
what a unique macaron! i’ve had black sesame seeds before, but they were sprinkled on lavash bread. i loved them there, so i don’t see any reason why i wouldn’t love them here!
unique is correct! there were hardly any recipes out there!
heh. these are wayyyyy more fragrant you should really try
and mmmm. on bread! got to love them there as well!
I saw this on bakex3 the other day, and for the life of me, couldn’t leave a comment (wonky internet connection the whole day)! So, this is how it was supposed to sound like…
“Goodness, Fel. Could you make any more perfect-looking macarons! I don’t even know if I’d like black sesame (I’m highly non-adventurous that way), but I’m pretty sure I’d give a resounding yes to these macarons!”
hahahaha. thanks sooooo much dearie
you flatter me too much. heh.
i’d say the same to your cupcakes with the adorable fondant toppers!
These look quite lovely! What an interesting use of black sesame seeds. I would never have thought of it! How would you describe the flavor?
hello velva! thank you sweetheart
hmmm. as a macaron or the black sesame itself?
its a really tricky question really.
i dont know how to describe it!
its kind of a nutty flavour i guess? but wayyy fragrant cos its roasted
as a macaron eaten cold, it kinda reminds me of black sesame ice cream!
Love the name of your blog…and I agree;P Your macaroons look AMAZING! Well done!!
hey there paula! heh.
i first saw the phrase on a shirt online and fell in love with it!
thank you!
They look so pretty!! I am yet to lay my hands on macarons. I love black sesame seeds. This may prompt me to make my first batch of macarons at home. Thanks for sharing.
thank you ellie!
im a biiiiiiiig fan of black sesame too. heh. you should really try!
making macarons is just really addictive somehow.
can’t wait to see your post then
you’re most welcome!
You make it look so easy! They are gorgeous! Absolutely “grown-up” and posh, and I daresay, GOTH, compared to all those bubblegum pink ones
Fantastic!
you flatter me too much! heh thanks anyway dear.
hahaha! goth is an interesting way to put it
come to think of it, i havent made pretty pink ones yet!
I really need to make this flavor of macaron…sounds delicious! They look fantastic!
thank you veron!
and yes, you HAVE TO try this flavour out. its super!
can’t wait to see your post on it
Wow, just perfect! thanks for dropping by my blog! So happy to see yours!
got to love your blog
esp the photos!
Damn sounds good.. You think there can ever be savoury macarons? Can’t be with the amount of sugar right =( Ha that’s the dream.
sounds good.. is good!
savoury? maybe yes!
haha macarons arent macarons without the sugar man. heh.
Yeah I know that’s why there seems to be no way for savoury ones =(
omg! these looks so awesome! Makes me want to give making macarons a try. (: Thanks for this! I was wondering if you need to leave the gg whites out for 24hrs before making these?
hey lianne! thank you
i dont leave my egg whites out when i make my macarons.
but you can try! because old egg whites whip better & easier
hey felicia! thanks for getting back to me. My macarons was a fail attempt though. haha didn’t look anything like yours! I dunno what went wrong! haha (: Shall try again soon. Got any tips? Mine doesnt stay in shape and doesnt have that nice bottom cracking thing! haha
hey there lianne! hmmm. there are many factors to why they cracked!
over beating, over mixing, temperature, the way you pipe it etc!
the macaron batter should spread a little after you pipe.
hmmm. i used this method to get regular shapes when i just started.
draw circles on a piece of blank paper.
put your baking paper over that piece of paper as a guide, like a stencil!
because the baking paper is translucent, you can pipe within the circle
hope that helps dear!
thanks so much for getting back to me Felicia! I will give it another shot next week. Mine just doesn’t rise like yours and it’s like. ugly. haha quite sad! haha but will definitly not give up cos it was jus my first time! thanks for the tips dear! will definitey keep it in mind!
you’re most welcome
hope to see your macaron entry on your blog sometime soon!
oh my, they look just gorgeous!
why thank you betty!
Hello, thanks for sharing the recipe, i had been making macarons lately and had a few suscessful batch. However the only one i still can’t master is this particular sesame macaron…
I tried a few times, about 5 times, most time they crack, even in a lower temperature… and other times, they just puff up and have no feet.
I do not know what could go wrong here, do you have any suggestion?
Thank you in advance
Kim
hi kim,
was the consistency of the batter much different from your successful ones?
you may want to play around with the amount of black sesame.
sometimes its the ratio of dry and wet ingredients.
don’t remember how much black sesame i put in that time,
but im quite sure i didnt follow the exact amount of black sesame in the recipe.
i guess i was just lucky. haha.
and you may wanna process/grind the dry ingredients more,
because black sesame can be quite coarse.
try hitting the bottom of the tray a couple of times before baking too!
helps with the shape and shininess
Thank you so much, i watch a video of making macaron from a chef yesterday, and i guess i finally get the ‘flow like magma’ stage hehe, i baked a batch with lavender today and they are gorgeous… but i need more courage to try the black sesame one again hehe, i’ll keep your advice in mind. thanks for sharing the recipe.
Hey Felicia, I finally have the courage to retry the black sesame macaron again today, they turn out right. I got cracked and perfect one all in one batch, my oven is lousy hehehe… next time i’ll increase the black sesame ratio. I filled it up with half oolong tea black sesame dark chocolate ganache, and half matcha tea white choco ganashe…I included the link for the photos of the macarons
Did you attempt some other flavour?
hi kim! thats awesome!
im glad ive been of help to your macaron adventures
nah. i think it happens to many of us.
for me because the corners of my oven is hotter,
my macaron shells at those corner will usually crack.
heh. great job and pictures kim
havent baked macarons in some time! too caught up with school.
but will post up when i do!
Hi there!
I tried to make this but failed very badly!! after i piped the macaroons and left to air, the mixture spreads (until like a mini cookie) in size. Help! What went wrong?!?!
it can be many factors dear.
by the sounds of it, it’s too “watery”
if you measured and followed the steps well,
i think you may have overmixed it!
do leave it to air in a cool and dry place
and not a warm and humid place.
hope your next attempt turns out well
Thanks a lot for the reply!
I first beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt and added the granulated sugar gradually (half first, then after say a minute, added the other half). why is it that evident peaks did not form in my mixture? it was just very very very faint peaks. So I mixed it a while longer but still peaks did not come out.
You have to make sure that there is no moisture in your bowl other than your egg whites. If not your peaks won’t form properly
Hey, i read your blog and your macarons were awesome!
i fail mine a couple of time and the feet will not rise nicely.
can i know where should i place my rack when i bake? the middle part or the lower rack?
Hope to hear from you soon
Thanks.
heh thanks!
no worries, i took like at least a million tries before i got it right.
i aint no expert but i bake mine on the middle rack and it turns out fine!
Thanks!
I will try again definitely.
How long do i have to bake the macarons? Some website states that just by getting the hardshell will do.
i am a little confuse here.
i would say 12 to 15 mins? it does vary depending on how big you pipe.
just play by ear!
the insides have to be cooked too, not underbaked.
it should be chewy inside, but baked through.
Sorry. i forget to write this down on my previous post.
How long do i have to age the egg whites? Leaving it at somewhere cool and dry will do right?
i age it overnight. yup.
thank you! i will definitely try to bake again
Hi Felicia, I tried to make the buttercream but it turned out real watery… any idea how to avoid that? Thanks much!
hmmm your butter should be really cold and firm!
it should turn out fine!
thank you lianne
hehe (: don’t mention it. I should thank you!