Black sesame macarons inspired by No-face from Spirited Away, filled with a delicious black sesame cream cheese buttercream
I’m pretty sure most people have watched Spirited Away, it’s one of my favourite movies and I have honestly watched it 1000s of times. The one character that scared me when I first watched the movie was no-face, but the more I watched him the more the character grew on me, and I feel like its the same with most people. As with all of Hayao Miyazaki’s movies there are so many layers to the story and no matter how many times you watch his films you can never get sick of them.
When coming up with potential models for some halloween macarons I thought no-face was perfect, but instead of making a scary version why not make him/her/it (???) cute! I’m not going to lie, making decorated macarons can be super time consuming, especially when there are so many small details… but look at the end result of these! These are the perfect halloween treat 🎃
As for the flavour of these, what better combination than black sesame. These are filled with an easy buttercream that is not too sweet, yet doesn’t require any heating or cooking like a french/swiss/italian buttercream. On its own it tastes like black sesame ice-cream… so good!
If you guys need any help on making macarons my e-book has a photographic step-by-step guide to making Italian and French macarons, with extra tips at each step to ensure macaron success. It also comes with a guide on the best ingredients, equipment and extra recipes, everything you need! Click the button below to purchase now 🥰
If you do end up making this recipe for halloween (or anytime really) tag me on instagram @catherine.justdessertsau and hashtag #cattycakes so I can see and share your creations, I can’t wait! Happy baking!
PrintBlack Sesame No-Face Macarons (Kaonashi カオナシ from Spirited Away)
Inspired by the Studio Ghibli movie 'Spirited Away' these macarons are based off the character No-Face. Filled with a cream cheese black sesame buttercream these macarons are cute and a little spooky, perfect for halloween!
- Prep Time: 75 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 90 minutes
- Yield: 9 1x
Ingredients
Macaron Shell
- 100 g Almond meal
- 88 g Powdered/confectioners sugar
- 75 g Egg whites
- 75 g Sugar
- Black gel/powder colouring
- 30 g Compound white chocolate
- Black, purple and pink powder/oil based food colouring
Black Sesame Cream Cheese Buttercream
- 65 g Cream cheese
- 95 g Unsalted butter, room temperature
- 40 g Roasted black sesame seeds
- 50 g Sugar
Instructions
Macaron Shell
- In a medium sized bowl sieve the almond meal and powdered sugar together
- In a large clean bowl add the egg whites, and using an electric mixer beat until foamy
- Slowly add the sugar and beat until stiff peaks
- Fold the sieved almond meal and powdered sugar into the meringue in 2-3 additions, scraping around the bowl and down the centre
- Remove half of the batter and colour black with gel/powder colouring
- Continue folding both the black and white mixture until you notice that the lines that form when the batter falls back into the bowl slowly start to disappear (about 20 seconds after the batter falls back in the bowl, be careful not to overmix)
- Transfer to two piping bags fitted with a round tip
- Using the black batter pipe out a small oval, then pipe a circle of white batter on top of the black oval
- Allow to dry for 1-2 hours*
- Bake in a preheated oven at 140°C for [cooked-timer minutes=”15″]15 Minutes[/cooked-timer], or until they do not wiggle when moved
- Remove from oven and let cool
- Melt compound white chocolate, divide into three bowls and colour each pink, black and purple**
- Fill a small piping bag with each and pipe on the face, allow to dry
Black Sesame Cream Cheese Buttercream
- In the bowl of a food processor blend the sugar and black sesame seeds together until a smooth paste forms
- Beat the cream cheese until smooth
- Add the unsalted butter and using an electric mixer beat on medium speed until fluffy and paler in colour
- Add the black sesame sugar paste and continue beating until fully combined
- Transfer to a piping bag and fill the macarons
- Place in an airtight container and allow to mature overnight
Notes
*drying time will differ depending on your climate, make sure that the macarons are dry to the touch before baking
**compound chocolate doesn't need to tempered, it will also dry quickly so you may need to remelt the chocolate in between each addition of detail
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How much sugar do you need for the macaron? It wasn’t listed. Thanks!
75g! Sorry about that I've fixed it up 🙂
Thank you!!!! Can’t wait to try!