Keroppi Matcha Macarons with Azuki Bean Swiss Meringue Buttercream

I made these for fun along with Hello Kitty macarons. Originally intended to be given to my kids but they were all snapped up by the lady who requested for Keroppi cookies! Presenting my totally naturally coloured and flavoured Matcha Keroppi macarons with Azuki bean swiss meringue buttercream (smbc)!

I was getting muddled after piping 90 Hello Kitty macaron shells and seeing stars by the end of drawing 45 Kitty faces so I didn't do a very good job for Keroppi. I piped the same pattern for both top and bottom shells so Keroppi ended up having exposed eyeballs at the back of the head :p. Should have piped plain green shells for bottom shells. Keroppi's mouth wasn't drawn on too well even though it's just a "V". Anyway, glad that they are still recognizable!

Here's the template I used. I only made 15 shells.

I will share the recipe for a larger batch of macarons for your convenience.

Ingredients (about 40-45 Keroppi macarons, 80-90 shells):
200g icing sugar
200g superfine almond meal/ ground almond
200g caster sugar
75ml water
80g x2 egg whites, preferably aged
10g Matcha powder, preferably high grade

Steps:
1. Sift almond meal with icing sugar. Add 80g of egg whites and mix well to form the mass. Portion out a quarter of the mass and leave it plain. Add sifted matcha powder to the remaining 3/4 of the mass.

2. Prepare the Italian meringue and fold in 1/4 and 3/4 of it in two batches to the respective masses. Please refer to this post for the details on how to prepare the Italian meringue and macaron batter. Refer to this post for video tutorials of the macaronage process.

3. Pipe the batter onto the trays with a 5-6 mm round tip. Remember to pipe plain green shells for the bottom shells. For Keroppi's face, pipe the eyes first, followed by a rounded green rectangle for the face. Tap the tray on the table a few times to release trapped air bubbles.

Freshly piped!

4. Bake at 130°C for 17-22 minutes at the lowest rack position, rotating the tray halfway through baking. Extend the baking time if the shells are still stuck to the baking sheet. Cool the shells for 5 minutes before removing from the tray.

Freshly baked!

5. Add on rosy cheeks and blacks of eyes. I drew on the mouth with edible marker. I used natural sourced pink food colouring (Queen's) to colour the rosy cheeks and charcoal to colour black. Make sure that the icing is completely dry before filling them.

Freshly iced!

Azuki bean swiss meringue buttercream
250g smbc*
150g Azuki bean paste (I used Tsubuan which has some whole beans in the paste)

* Recipe for basic smbc can be found here. The addition of a bit of lemon juice helps to reduce the level of sweetness.

Mix Azuki bean paste into smbc. Rewhip smbc first if you are using frozen-thawed smbc.

Spoon the cream onto the bottom shells. My cream has whole beans in there so it can't be piped easily. Place the top shell on. Refrigerate the macarons in airtight container for at least 24h before serving. Let the macarons rest at room temperature for a few minutes before consuming.