Get "nutted" up for the cool breeze of Autumn....Black Sesame Cupcakes with Ginger Glaze and Toasted Coconut Flakes~!

To some, black sesame and sweets might be an odd pair, but it is truly a flavour that is close to many Asian's hearts..especially during those unexpectedly windy Autumn evenings, there is nothing better than a bowl of lusciously fragrant black sesame soup that would send comforting warmth from within..


~ Black Sesame Cupcakes with Ginger Glaze and Toasted Coconut Flakes ~

makes 12


Ingredients

3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1/4 cup ground black sesame
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup black sesame butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
4 large egg whites
Ginger preserve
Coconut flakes, toasted for garnish


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12-cup muffin pans with liners; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, ground black sesame, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and 3/4 cup of sugar until light and fluffy.

4. Add flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk until just combined.

5. In the clean bowl, beat egg whites and gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar; beat on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form. Gently fold 1/3 of the egg-white mixture into the butter-flour mixture until combined. Gently fold in remaining egg-white mixture.

6. Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each up to 3/4 full. Bake until the cupcakes are golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Allow the cakes to cool completely.

7. Spread thinly the ginger preserve, and decorate with toasted coconut flakes.



Bon Appetit~!

Recipe: le macaron noir!

~ le macaron noir ~
sésame macaron à la crème de sésame noir


This article is part of "The Macaron Series"
http://lafleuraucacao.blogspot.com/2009/10/in-mood-for-loveand-macaronthe-macaron.html

And an extension to the article "All Blacked Out"
http://lafleuraucacao.blogspot.com/2008/09/all-blacked-out-current-food-trends-on.html

Makes 20 macarons

Ingredients

Macaron:
65g Almond meal
80g Icing sugar
40g Castor sugar
50g Egg white
8g Roasted Black Sesame Powder

Filling:
Japanese Kurogoma Creme


Preheat your oven to 325oF
1. Stack two or three heavy baking trays. Line the top tray with Silpat.
2. Process the almond meal and icing sugar at high speed to achieve a fine powder. Incorporate the Roasted Black Sesame powder into this mixture and sift to break up any lumps of powder.
3. In a clean bowl, beat the room-temperature egg whites until foamy and just at soft peaks. Gradually beat in the castor sugar, adding a little at a time. Beat on medium speed for a number of minutes until you have a firm, glossy and compact meringue.
4. Sprinkle half of the dry mixture over the meringue and fold in with a spatula using a circular motion around the bowl and under the batter. Repeat with the remaining powder. You don't need to be gentle, but the goal is to incorporate the dry ingredients quickly to avoid overmixing. *It's better to undermix than overmix.
5. The final batter should be the colour of pale brown, smooth and thick but flowing. A ribbon of batter dropped from a spoon onto the top of the remaining batter should take about 30 seconds to disappear.
6. Spoon the batter into a piping bag with a 8-10 mm nozzle and pipe evenly onto the baking paper. Mild peaks should settle back into the batter eventually. If they don't disappear, tap the tray repeatedly on a table until the peaks have largely disappeared.
7. Leave the piped batter to dry for anywhere between 20 mins and two hours.
8. Place the tray in the oven and bake at 325oF for 12 minutes.
9. At the 5 minute mark the shells should have lifted and developed 'pied' or the feet. At the 6-7 minute mark they should be starting to colour just slightly.
10. Remove from the oven and leave on the tray for a minute or two.
11. Once removed from the sheet, leave the shells to cool on a wire rack, face up.


Assemble "le macaron noir":
1. Place the kurogoma creme into a piping bag and pipe mixture onto one macaron shell.
2. Gently press an un-piped shell onto the kurogoma creme until the creme just reaches the rim of the macaron.

Bon Appetit!

In the Mood for Love....and Macaron....The Macaron Series!

The most exquisite form of a pastry that carry a fashion statement, it is almost impossible to not be in the mood for Macaron. The truth is that I fell for them too like most connoisseurs, after discovering Parisian-style macarons as I strolled pass the jewels-decorated cases of Pierre Hermé and Ladurée, I became a victim of this fashion trend when I am known not to be a meringue fan. With a two-day half life, and the reluctance to devour the pieces of art, my very first box of such gems was framed as the decor in my refrigerator. One bite was all it took to elevate it from a simply an exquisite piece of art, into a culinary adventure, as your teeth sink through the crisp egg shell-like crust, the soft fluffy interior, a slight crunch from the pied, then finally the indulgent flavourful centre.


In its purest form, the macaron is a confection composed of finely ground almonds, egg whites, and sugar. The word is a derivation of the Venetian macarone, meaning “fine paste”. The recipe traveled through France and varied regionally, but the ingredients and the basic construction remained consistent. A layer of buttercream, ganache, or jam was spread between two meringue disks.

In the early 1930 the tearoom and pastry-shop Ladurée in Paris started selling the new creation of Pierre Desfontaines, grandson of Louis Ernest Ladurée: two traditional dome halves sandwiched with a sweet filling between: the ganache.


In the mid-nineties Ladurée raised the bar with the help of a consultant, Pierre Hermé, a pastry master who added compelling flavor combinations, such as lime-basil and violet-cassis, to the shop’s offerings. Among Ladurée’s newer creations, a caramel version prepared with beurre salé has been especially esteemed. Every season Parisians fervently await the shop’s innovations.

Hermé, who now has seven boutiques in Tokyo and three in Paris, says the macarone itself is merely a medium for new flavors. With his philosophy, I have decided to throw myself into this adventure of my own....a bi-weekly invention of my flavour combinations.

To debut this Macaron series, I will introduce you to the "le macaron noir", as the link to my earlier article "All Blacked Out!"


~ sésame macaron à la crème de sésame noir ~

http://lafleuraucacao.blogspot.com/2008/09/all-blacked-out-current-food-trends-on.html

Please do re-visit for recipes and my inventions!

All BLACKED Out! The current food trends on anything black....

It is not entirely a strange concept to consume foods that are mysteriously "black". In foreign cuisines, we have pastas and sauces elegantly "contaminated" with squid ink, and the East, black sesame made its way through the shadow with its mesmerising aroma. Black soybeans came crashing into the healthy eating market with the features of being lower in carbs and higher in fibre, compared to its fair cousin.


Just when you were expecting that our adventurous palates have been saturated with the culinary arts of darkness, here comes charcoal walking through the back entrance....Yes, charcoal indeed! I am not referring to the carcinogenic derivatives on meats we generate from our most honourable barbeques, but a special variant of charcoal that has undergone a manipulative process of wood or bamboo, where heat no less than 1000 degrees celcius is applied for a pr0longed period of time.


This type of charcoal, Binchō-tan (備長炭) - the wood version or 竹炭 - the bamboo version, is certainly no stranger, but a highly valued multi-tasking gem among the residents of Japan. The origin of Binchō-tan dates back to the Genroku period of the Edo era (1688-1703) in Japan, when a businessman perfected the Chinese art of making charcoal that was introduced in the early 9th century. Binchō-tan is priced for its matching strength to steel, which is achieved through physical activation of the carbon in specially selected high density woods. This activation creates a type of charcoal that conducts electricity (therefore it has the ability to neutralise electromagnetic waves), with an ultimate power of filtration and humidity regulation. These qualities of Binchō-tan appears to be more suitable for household settings, and to the innovative Japanese, it wasn't surprising that they have incorporated Binchō-tan in the culinary setting. Rice becomes more flavourful with improved texture when cooked with Binchō-tan, due to the filtration power of the charcoal, and the leeching of microminerals from the wood, minerals that becomes available only after the activation process.


Don't be mistaken....cooking rice with Binchō-tan alone will not turn your rice black! However, with the constant expansion of the market for healthy eating, and the curiosity of Japanese consumers reaching the stratosphere, the ground version of this black mass has made its entrance to the culinary repetoire (the bamboo version is used for making "edible" ground charcoal). The Japanese believes that the filtration power of charcoal would translate when ingested, and often seen incorporated into flour for bread and pâtisserie items. This trend has infiltrated the neighbouring cities like Hong Kong and Taipei; Hong Kong now has a restaurant featuring sofisticated "charred" dishes!


Studies conducted in Japan have shown that consuming edible charcoal will enhance gastrointestinal mobility, digestion, and the excretion of toxic substances, but the Taiwanese found no convincing evidence to support these claims. What's my take on all these? It is an item I am not ready to incorporate into my daily diet. The porous nature of the charcoal would in theory have the ability to absorb toxic substances within our GI, but this absorption would unlikely be selective. It can interfere with the absorption of certain essential nutrients from our diet, which could lead to nutrient deficiencies. Similar to nutrient supplements, we should take caution with new "ingredients" where the effects of long term intake have not been studied. Despite the doubts, tastings were inevitable with my curiosity. The subtle yet complex bitterness of the charcoal added to the depth of flavours in sweet cakes....the best of all, the charcoal does not stain your tongue! A Sweet Deal indeed!