Valentine’s week I attempted the Bouchon Bakery macarons, twice. I didn’t get them quite right and not because of the recipe. It is a solid one and I plan to use it in the future but I need to experiment with placement in the oven so they bake properly. In this post I go into detail on the process. The filling is a raspberry buttercream that I made by flavoring a French buttercream with seedless raspberry jam.
On my latest trip to New York I decided to make it a macaron trip, the idea mainly inspired by the opening last year of Ladurée, the famous Parisian tea salon that finally has come to the states. I hope Pierre Hermé will follow suit but for now I will settle for a little piece of Paris in Ladurée, literally, as the macarons are flown over every week.
And before I get into the little details of each macaron, here is my blurb, macaron tasting 101, because I take it that seriously. It’s like wine tasting.
Ladurée’s pastel green is as recognizable to sweet lovers as Tiffany’s blue is to shopaholics. In the midst of the rainy weather, the window display on Madison Avenue was a welcoming spring combination of green and lavender. This is the only photo I have of the shop, as true to the Paris locations, photography is not allowed inside. I figured the window was acceptable since it is viewable from the outside.
Update: In the Season 8 season premiere, Blair’s “Paris” is really Oheka Castle in Long Island, NY.
In last season’s finale of Gossip Girl we found out Blair & Serena would take on Paris for the summer. Already incredibly stylish in Manhattan, imagine them with their Chanel and Louis strolling along the Champs Élysées or sipping tea at a cafe. If I had my Paris vacation two weeks earlier, I would have been there during filming (darn!). Nevertheless, the city was every bit as wonderful as shown in the show. There is something about the city, a certain aura where the people and everything are just so much more glamorous. With tonight’s season premiere, I relived belle Paris in the eyes of Blair & Serena. Where did they wine and dine? Here’s a recap.
Blair “sampling sugary snacks like a modern Marie Antoinette.”
I was floating on a sugar cloud as I continued to taste as many macarons as I possibly could. But I have to say the ultimate macaron experience and highlight of my time in Paris was a visit inside the kitchen of chocolatier and patissier, Gerard Mulot. I thought this behind-the-scenes opportunity would be hard to come by considering I’m not in the pastry business or a journalist, but through a fantastic company called Meeting the French, you can interact with the locals via cooking classes, dinners and in my case, tours to observe the everyday work of a business. For someone visiting on a budget, the tours cost 7 to 12 euros. A real bargain for an exclusive peek into life in Paris.
I saw it all… from creating delicate macaron shells…
While the craze is still all about cupcakes in the US, the spotlight belongs to macarons in Paris. And long lines didn’t deter me from my search for the city’s best. Ladurée, Pierre Hermé,
Gerard Mulot… here I come!
