Are you a fan of black sesame? Black sesame eclair macarons are filled with black sesame white chocolate whipped ganache and yuzu curd. They are so flavorful and delicious!

Black Sesame Macaron Shells

Adopted from Pies & Tacos Blog – Swiss method.

Note: You do not have to get exactly 95g of egg whites. You can calculate the ratio as 1:05. For example: if you only get 100g of egg whites out of 3 eggs, multiple it by 1.05 to get to 105g on dry ingredients (almond flour and powdered sugar). Remember to use a scale to weight all the ingredients.

Yield about 40-44 shells.

• 95g egg whites (from 3 fresh eggs)
• 95g white granulated sugar
• 75g almond flour
• 25g black sesame powder
• 100g powdered sugar
• 3g egg white powder (optional) from Judee’s from Scratch

Steps

1. Before you start, wipe all the tools and bowls with white vinegar or lemon juice to make sure there is no oil on them and get all of the ingredients ready. Prepare a large piping bag, fitted with a large round tip. I use piping tip round 12. 1A can be used to. It depends on what your preference. Set aside.
2. Line two baking sheets with silicone mat or parchment paper. If you are using a template, you can put them underneath the mat or parchment paper now.
3. Measure out all of the ingredients using a scale.
4. In one large bowl, sift the powdered sugar, almond flour, and black sesame powder together. Whisk them until combine. Set it aside.
5. In another bowl, whisk the sugar and the egg white powder (if using). Using a double boiler method, place the bowl over a pot with water. Make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Add the egg whites to the sugar and whisk the mixture until frothy. Use your finger to touch the mixture and you should not be feeling any sugar in it, which means the sugar is completely melted and ready for next step.
6. Transfer the sugar mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer. With the whisk attachment, start whisking mixture on low for about 30 seconds, then gradually start increasing speed to medium-low (KitchenAid speed 4). Whisk on medium for one to two minutes, until the mixture is white and starting to become fluffy. Raise the speed medium-high (KitchenAid speed 6) and whisk for a few minutes (could be up to 10 to 12 minutes) until stiff peaks are formed. Once they get glossy and you start seeing streaks formed by the whisk, it might be time to stop.
7. Stiff peaks is the meringue shooting straight up. Then it is ready.
8. Pour the sifted powdered sugar, almond flour, and matcha powder into the stiff meringue.
9. Use a spatula and start folding gently. What you are trying to do here is to deflate the air in the meringue and also incorporate it with the dry ingredients until it reaches a lava stage. I do not normally reach to figure 8 stage (if you have heard of this), because at this point, I feel like the batter is already overmixed and too runny. If the batter is flowing down from the spatula effortlessly and slowly, then it should be ready for the next step. If the batter is breaking up from the spatula, it means it is undermixed and you need to keep folding.
10. When ready, transfer the batter to the piping bag.
11. Place the piping bag directly 90 degrees over the center of each macaron template.
12. When piping is done, I would recommend tapping the bottom of the tray instead of banging the tray against the counter. Banging the tray against the counter is too loud and it really is scaring my kids. It still works but I no longer do the banging. This step is to get rid of air bubbles in the batter.
13. Use a toothpick to pop any air bubbles in the surface of the shells.
14. Pre-heat the oven to 310 degrees. You would need oven thermometer to know how hot your oven is. This is very important when baking macarons. What I have found out is the display of the oven is not accurate and it could be few degrees off, either hotter or under. Therefore, you would need to adjust the temperature and/or baking time. My oven is without a fan.
15. If you are using a template, do not forget to remove it, which you can take it out in this step.
16. Rest the shells about 20-40 minutes, depending on how humid where you live. It could take up to an hour for the top of the shell to dry. When you gently touch the surface of a macaron and the batter does not stick to your finger, it is ready to bake.
17. You could only bake one tray at a time and put the tray in the middle rack. I rotate the tray half way and I use airbake tray. The advantage of using airbake tray is if there is hot spot in your oven, the macaron shells are baked evenly and the airbake tray also can keep them from burning.
18. Bake for 15-18 minutes if using regular baking sheets. Bake for 16-19 minutes on airbake tray.
19. To make sure the macarons are done baking, when you try to move a macaron, it should not feel jiggly. If the macaron is still jiggly, bake for additional 2 minutes and test again. When done, remove from the oven and bake the second tray.
20. Move them to cooling rack. Let the macarons cool down completely before peeling off from the mat or parchment paper.

Black Sesame White Chocolate Whipped Ganache

Adopted from Matt Adlard

• 200g Heavy Cream (a)
• 15g Black Sesame Powder
• 3g Powdered Gelatin + 18g Cold Water
• 110g White Chocolate
• 100g Heavy Cream (b)

Steps

1. Bloom the gelatin + cold water and leave for 5 minutes
2. In a saucepan over a medium heat, heat the cream (a).
3. Once hot, remove from the heat and stir in the bloomed gelatin to dissolve. Then add in black sesame powder.
4. Add the chopped chocolate into another bowl and pour over the hot cream. Leave for 2 minutes, then blend until smooth.
5. Add the remaining cold cream (b) and blend again until smooth. Pour the mixture into a shallow bowl and cover the surface with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 6 hours or ideally overnight.
6. After it is set and ready to use, take it out from the fridge. Place it in the bowl of a stand mixer, whip with a whisk attachment in low speed for about 1 minute. Then increase speed to medium to soft and medium peaks. Do not over whip.

Assemble

1. There are different ways to pipe the eclair macarons. I made three layers and also normal macarons with top and bottom shells. You can totally decorate the way you like.
2. Place the ganache in a piping bag. Pipe the ganache on the macaron shell.
3. Pipe the Umikah Yuzu Curd (promo code “SUGARTREATS1” for 10% off) in the middle of the ganache. Top with another macaron shell on top.
4. Mature the macarons in the fridge for 24-48 hours before serving. When ready to serve, take the macarons out from the fridge and let them come to room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes. Enjoy!

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