Battle of the Macarons!
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Laduree, a famous patisserie in Paris, claims to be the creator of the macaron. Their pastry chefs bake these little cakes every morning, and they are then filled and put aside for 2 days before going on sale. This time allows them to create the 'perfect balance between texture and flavour'.
Laduree on a quieter day!
On my visit to Laduree, I couldn't believe how busy it was- the Parisians really do go mad for these small delicacies. There was a wide range of colours and flavours on display, and I opted for three flavours:- Pure Origin Chocolat from Madagascar, Praline, and Foret Noire (or black forest to us in the UK!). Apparently, all these flavours are seasonal ones, although I didn't realise this at the time.
I love praline, so I had high hopes from the last macaron, and I certainly wasn't disappointed. The exterior was crisper than the chocolate macarons but was just as soft inside- a perfect macaron in my opinion. The flavour was nutty and delicious just as I had expected.
I was very impressed with Laduree's macarons but I was expecting them to be of a very high standard. The only problem is I just wanted to eat more and more but at 1 euro 70 per piece I certainly couldn't afford to!
I next moved on to Pierre Herme, whos macarons are priced at 1 euro 95 each, quite a pricey macaron I must say! There certainly wasn't as much choice here in terms of flavours, but there were some that seemed a little more experimental that what Laduree had to offer. I decided to go for something a little different so I chose the chocolate and passion fruit macaron- a egg yellow colour shell with a dark brown chocolate filling.
I was curious as to how the flavour of the passion fruit would come through in this macaron but on taking the first bite I found that the fruit flavour certainly stood out! Infact, I found it to be rather overpowering and I'm not quite sure I liked the combination.
Although I particularly wanted to try macarons from Laduree and Pierre Herme, I also thought I'd try out some from a few other patisseries. It was hard to decide exactly where to buy some as you can get macarons virtually everywhere in Paris- even McDonalds sell them!
I picked up a rose macaron from Arnaud Delmonter (see the full review here) which was very good, and also a caramel au beurre sel macaron from Gerard Mulot which had such an intense butterscotch flavour, with a slight salty after taste- it was rather perfect!
Another excellent macaron I ate was in Un Dimanche a Paris. This was a pink macaron with an intense raspberry filling which was fruity and delicious. The macaron itself was perfect- a thin crisp outer shell with a melt in the mouth soft centre and a generous amount of filling. You can see from the photo below that this macaron was made to perfection- there is a good pied (or foot) on each biscuit, a smooth shiny shell and a fairly thick layer of filling. I think I can honestly say that this was the best macaron I tried.
In Angelina, I picked up a 'Mont Blanc' macaron based on their famous pastry that consists of a meringue base topped with whipped cream, chestnut puree. This macaron was unfortunately not as good as the others I had tried on my trip so I was a little disappointed. I thought it smelt a little like cardboard (not a good start!) and the exterior of the shell was just too thick and crunchy, and the centre not soft enough. However, the overall flavour was good and the chestnut did come through- could have done with more filling though! Although this was the worst macaron I tried, it certainly wasn't bad and it doesn't affect my overall opinion of Angelina- their hot chocolate is to die for. Next time I'm in Paris, I'm definetely heading back for a taste of their real Mont Blanc pastry! (see below)
Angelina's Mont Blanc, courtesy of Paris Patisseries
Overall, all the macarons were good and I now know what to aim for when making my own, although I do believe that the ones I have made in the past were not half bad!
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