Black sesame macarons, yuzu cream cheese, smoked salmon and chives

Preparation time: 35 min

Preheat your four at 310 °F

• Macaron cookies

  The day before making this recipe, seperate the egg yolks and whites. Keep the whites at room temperature in a sealed container.

  In a food processor, mix the almond powder and icing sugar for one minute, then pass through a tamis.

  In the food processor, place the egg whites with a pinch of salt and process until they form peaks, then add the sugar and incorporate. Continue to mix until the mix unsticks from the sides of the bowl. Mix the egg mix with the almond and sugar mix with the help of a spatula. Once well combined, place in a piping bag.

  On a baking sheet with parchment paper, pipe out the macaron mix into little circles and let them air dry for 5-10 minutes, then cook in the oven for 7 minutes, rotate the baking sheet and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.

• Yuzu cream cheese

  Mix the cream cheese, pepper, chives and a bit of 35% cream.  Dont add too much cream, it's only there to make the mix a nice texture for piping.  Add yuzu as you mix, tasting from time to time to make sure it tastes of yuzu, but isn't overpowering.  Add the finaly chopped chives, season and place in a piping bag.

• Plating

  In the center of a macaron cookie, pipe a ball of yuzu cream cheese. Place a slice of smoked salmon ontop. On a second macaron, place another ball of yuzu cream cheese. Place both sides together to form a sandwich. Repeat this for all of the macarons.