Black Sesame Macarons with Salted Peanut Butter Filling

Recently, I was lucky enough to do some work experience with Country Living Magazine and as a thank you for the lovely time I had there I decided to do a bit of baking. I'd gathered from the two weeks I'd spent in the office that there was a deep love of peanut butter among the employees and so that was the basis of my recipe.

Black sesame seeds are highly underused in the UK but I really think they give a unique flavour, especially in desserts. So, as is the case with most things, when they are combined with peanut butter the result is something truly spectacular.

My macarons, though delicious, did get a bit battered on the commute into London (hence the cracked appearance on the photo!) so if you're making these at home, you're aiming for a much smoother look!

Black Sesame Macarons with Salted Peanut Butter Filling

Makes 20

60g black sesame seeds

115g icing sugar

2 egg whites

35g granulated sugar

¼ tsp salt

A few drops black gel food colouring

For the salted peanut butter filling:

100g smooth peanut butter

175g icing sugar

55g butter, room temperature

1 tsp flaked sea salt

Preheat your oven to 150C/300F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Grind the icing sugar and sesame seeds in a food processor until fine (this will take a while, about 3 minutes, as the sesame seeds are harder to grind up), then sift the mixture into a bowl. Most of it should go through, but if a lot doesn’t, toss it back in the food processor and grind for another minute or so.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment affixed, add the egg whites and granulated sugar. Turn the mixer on to power medium-low speed and whisk the mixture together for 3 minutes. Next, turn the power up to medium speed and whisk an additional 3 minutes. Turn the power up to medium-high speed and whisk an additional minute or two. By now, there should be a stiff meringue in the bowl. Stop the mixer and add a few drops of colouring at this point and turn the mixer back on to the highest speed, whisking for an additional minute to incorporate the colour.

Knock the meringue that’s trapped in the whisk back into the bowl. Now, add the sesame seed mixture into the bowl all at once. Fold the seed mixture into the fluffy egg whites (don’t worry you don’t need to be too gentle with the batter). By the time it’s ready, its consistency will be runnier than you’d think, closer to pancake batter than cake batter.

Fill a pastry bag with an 8mm nozzle with the batter. Pipe your shells onto the parchment-paper lined baking sheets, about 2 cm. or 1 inch in diameter, spacing them about 1 inch apart. When you’re done piping, pick up the pan and whack it down hard against your counter. Do this another time, then rotate the pan 90 degrees and do the same thing twice. You might see tiny air bubbles appear on the top of the rounds, a good sign because they could be potentially damaging if buried within the batter. Repeat with the other pan. Now leave the pans alone for half an hour—they’ll develop a skin during this time to protect them in the oven.

In the meantime make the peanut butter filling. Cream together all the filling ingredients in a medium sized bowl with a wooden spoon or plastic spatula. Be gentle at first to avoid getting icing sugar everywhere, but then be more aggressive to whip the filling into a smooth but thick consistency. Taste for sweetness, and add more icing sugar or salt as needed.

Slide the pans into the oven and bake for about 15 minutes, at which point the shells should be able to be cleanly picked off the parchment paper. Let the shells come to room temperature, then fill your macarons with the peanut butter filling. It’s quite thick, so a spoon should work just fine.