Goats' cheese macarons with fig, walnut and black sesame

Savoury goats’ cheese macarons with fig, walnut and black sesame!

by Lili
October 27, 2015
48 comments
Savoury cakes and snacks, Special everyday cakes and treats

Well these are as savoury as a dessert with macaron shells of sugar, ground almonds and egg white can be!  They were created in response to a Daring Kitchen macaron challenge.  I’d made Italian meringue macaron shells many times so challenged myself to create an unusual savoury filling.  Tangy goats’ cheese seemed a tasty option but other recipes add honey and fig jam resulting in rather sweet macarons.  So I chose to add no sugar, keeping the goats’ cheese as tangy and savoury as possible then rounding the edge off with ground black sesame seeds.  The unsweetened fig intensifies naturally in flavour as a compote.  Finally, I liked the idea of a crunch in my experimental macarons so added little walnut pieces.  Tada!  Goat’s cheese macarons with fig, walnut and black sesame – an amazing collage of textures and flavours!  But they’re all optional and you can leave them out or play with quantities.  Even plain goats’ cheese is simply delicious.  I can see these as a savoury canapés at a party or special dinner with intrigued guests raising impressed eyebrows.  Or on a plate waiting to go into my stomach… 🙂

Goats' cheese macarons with fig, walnut and black sesame

Goats’ cheese macarons with fig, walnut and black sesame

RECIPE

These strangely delicious tangy-sweet-smooth-crunchy macarons are a home-kitchen invention!  Your contribution to goats’ cheese macarons research would be greatly appreciated If you could also test them and let me know which filling combinations work best for you.

Macaron shells (40 shell halves to make 20 macarons)

Macaron shellsUse macaron shells hanging around your freezer or make them.  You can follow my Italian meringue macaron shells recipe (my preferred more stable method) or the French meringue macaron shells recipe.  Allow the shells to cool completely before filling.

Fig Compote and other options

Chop 1 or 2 figs into very small pieces and heat gently in a covered heavy-based pan for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Your fig compote should be soft and the flavour more intense.  Pour into a bowl and let your compote cool in the fridge.

Options:  instead of figs you could try using apricots. pears, blackberries or raspberries, all of which can pair well with goats’ cheese.

Goats’ cheese cream Making goats' cheese macarons 1

  • 150g/9 tablespoons goats’ cheese – I used a creamy supermarket kind, le Président which was rindless (just the middle part) and not very strong
  • 45g/3 tablespoons mascarpone (or some other creamy cheese)
  • 1 and a half teaspoons/3g ground black sesame seeds, to taste (optional)

Beat the ingredients together with a plastic or wooden spoon until creamy.  The ingredients and quantities you choose depend on the taste and texture of your goats’ cheese (with stronger goats’ cheese you’d need to increase the mascarpone).  The mascarpone makes it creamier but you can also have only goats’ cheese, add some other kind of cheese or omit the black sesame.  Taste your filling as you go along to see what you prefer and test some out in a macaron or two!  🙂

Assembling

Use a disposable piping bag and plain medium-sized nozzle (no.8) to make a ring of goats’ cheese cream on half your macaron shells.  Then add a quarter to half a teaspoon of fig compote in the middle of each ring.  Sprinkle a few small walnut pieces on them then top with the remaining shells.

Making goats' cheese macarons 2 After the first few I started placing the walnuts more towards the centre to have a more even white edge.  Billy the goat insisted on posing with his favourite meh-eh-ehmacaron.  Yes, just when you thought I’d stopped being so batty!  🙂

Goats' cheese macarons with fig, walnut and black sesame

Storing, testing and sharing

These macarons won’t keep very long and should be eaten within 2 days.  By day 3 you can still eat them but the shell will be softer.  You could keep the prepared goats’ cheese cream separate and fill when required.

I hope you’re intrigued by these ‘savoury’ macarons and might try some out.  I also highly recommend, as do my friends and family, my mojito macarons.

I’m just going to thank Rachael from pizzarossa and Korena from Korena in the Kitchen for motivating me to make macarons again with their Daring Kitchen challenge, where you can see lots of other macarons!  I’m also sharing these tasty little bites with Perfecting Patisserie@bakingqueen74, Recipe of the Week@aMummyToo, Tasty Tuesdays@HonestMum and Simply Eggcellent@BelleauKitchen.  Check out all their lovely recipes!  And please help yourselves to a little goats’ cheese macaron with fig, walnut and black sesame seed.

Goats' cheese macarons with fig, walnut and black sesame seeds

Goats’ cheese macarons with fig, walnut and black sesame seeds

Have a lovely sweet-savoury week dear reader!  Muak muak – a kiss on each cheek.  Au revoir… and see you soon!  Happy baking and eating!  🙂 x

P.S.  That Eiffel tower has just reminded me I’m going to Paris mid-November on a special cake mission… more news coming soon!  🙂

 

 

 

 

Posted by

Making cakes with my French mother on Sundays was an important part of my childhood. As an adult I then experimented with baking books and internet recipes and did a great patisserie course in Le Cordon Bleu Paris. I'm still trying out new recipes and creating some of my own cakes with influences from all around the world, adding some healthy ones to the repertoire. Yes, I love cakes!!! :)

48 thoughts on “Savoury goats’ cheese macarons with fig, walnut and black sesame!”

    • Lili says:

      Me too! The challenge gave me that extra push to experiment. I wouldn’t mind finding more savoury macaron recipes… I’ll look out for yours. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Dominic Franks (@belleaukitchen) says:

    I am still yet to master the macaron. You seem to be an expert. PLEASE come to Belleau Cottage and teach me the evil craft of this… they look so good, I love the goats-cheese fig thing, it sound so lovely and SO chic too! Thanks so much for linking to Simply Eggcellent x

    Liked by 1 person

    • Lili says:

      Thank you Dominic! So happy you like these macarons. I’m okay with the Italian meringue macarons (but had issues with the French meringue ones which I made once!) … would love to teach you how to dominate the evil macaron!! 🙂 A few people – including my mum! – have found my Italian Meringue macaron page useful. If you use a standmixer to have a very stable Italian meringue, and know just how long to ‘macaronner’ it helps. Wishing you well with your macarons – once you get it down it’s pretty simple! And the goats’ cheese filling is dead easy. 🙂 Thanks for hosting Simply Eggcellent and for stopping by again! 🙂

      Like

  4. Pingback: Week 36 of cakes plus la Castanyada chestnut plans and Halloween recipe ideas! | lili's cakes

  5. Lucy - BakingQueen74 (@Bakingqueen74) says:

    Goats cheese and fig are one of my favourite combinations! I bet these are delicious. I have heard of savoury macarons before but these flavours sound awesome. Thank you very much for joining in with Perfecting Patisserie! I’ll have yo check out your macaron guide, my recent attempt was awful 😉

    Like

    • Lili says:

      It was my first time having goats cheese and fig!! But I love it, and in a macaron with walnuts it’s great! Thanks for hosting Perfecting Patisserie! 🙂 Hope my macaron page can be helpful, and that your next lot of macarons come out lovely… I noticed some Daring Bakers persisted and said it took 3 or 4 goes before getting there. But they did. 🙂

      Like

  6. nikkifrankhamilton says:

    Lili, this is my first time here, and I love this recipe! I had no idea that macaroon shells were gluten free. You’ve made my day, my week! My daughter is 15 and she loves to cook, she has been wanting to make macaroons and now we will. I love figs, we both adore goat cheese, this is the perfect recipe! Thanks so much. Pinning so I have the recipe and so we can let you know how it goes!!!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Lili says:

      You’re very welcome! I’m so glad you’ve made a happy gluten-free discovery and hope you and your daughter enjoy making macarons. 🙂 Great that you both love goat cheese! Yay! Look forward to hearing from you about your macaron adventures! Would love to know how it goes. 🙂

      Like

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