Macarons are a delicious treat. And while some maybe better (sweeter, chewier, crunchier) than others, it's hard to go wrong with this sweet treat. Macarons are merengue-based french sweets, that consist of two cookies, with a filling sandwiched between the two sides, akin to an american whoopie pie. The cookies are made of egg white, sugar and almond powder, and they are colored to denote what flavor the cookie is. The filling can be made of ganache, jam or buttercream. They start by delighting your eyes, the vivid colors are really eye catching, and a well made macaron tempts you to not eat it, and to just keep it with your bells and baubles because it looks so pretty. But you simply can't do that. This cookie was made for eating!
While brunching at one of my favorite spots- La Provence, I decided I would pick up some macarons and give you, my foodie friends a little review, and preview of what macarons are all about- in case any of you have never tried them before. If that is you, I strongly encourage you to take the leap. Yes, they will be different than anything you have had before, but they are very tasty little treats, and you shouldn't be afraid of the sometimes radioactive looking colors. These cookies are supposed to POP!
La Provence is amazing all on it's own, and deserves it's own full review, so I am going to skip over those details and just focus on the macarons. We took our macarons to-go, and enjoyed them at home.
My husband and I each picked out two flavors, mine were raspberry and vanilla bean, and he picked hazelnut and cherry. While it is no surprise that vanilla was my favorite (if you read the cupcake review I recently wrote, you would know I am so boring!), i thoroughly enjoyed all the flavors. The hazelnut was a close second, I definitely wished that I got more than a nibble of it. And the cherry was (surprisingly to me) delicious, it reminded me of Jergen's lotions, their original scent is cherry almond, which is something I love (both the cherry almond scent, and eating things that remind me of lotion smells- weird, I know). The nuttiness of the macarons was also surprising, while these treats are sweet, they are so nutty from the almond powder as well. And because ground almonds serve as the flour in this recipe they are gluten-free!
If I had to say one negative thing about these macarons, it would be that not all the cookies were as smooth as I have always seen them be. But while I am into a well presented treat, and these cookies are so cute, I am happy to report that a bumpy cookie shell tastes just as good as a smooth one.
Now I am feeling super inspired, so keep your eyes out for a future macaron tutorial!
