Macarons!

I heart macaroons (in French they are called macarons), but I have a confession to make about them. Never in my life had I tried a macaroon before October 3, 2009 when I went to the institution of La Durée and discovered their delicious goodness. Considering this is the third time I have spent a considerable amount of time living in France, the fact that I just recently tried macaroons is a bit sacrilegious. I mean, I had seen them in all the patisseries from the South of France, to Grenoble, to Paris, but to be absolutely honest I never thought they looked all that interesting or tasty. Now, however, I know how naive I was regarding macaroons. The only problem is that I went from being a complete macaroon amateur to an all-out macaroon snob. I'm very particular about my macaroons.

In Paris, I think there are three places to buy exceptional macaroons: La Durée, Le Notre, and Pierre Hermé. My absolute favorite is the fleur-de-sel caramel macaroons from La Durée. I could die eating those. However, when you are in Paris, drop by all three places for a macaroon taste test. I promise that you won't be disappointed.

In Patisserie this past week, we finally got the chance to make macaroons. I bet you can't guess what flavor I chose to make. Yep - caramel. And while we didn't have any fleur de sel to add to them, they actually turned out tasting really good. Can't wait to see if I can recreate them back in the states!

Here's a detailed look at our macaroon adventure...

Starting ingredients.

Make a simple syrup.

Sift the flour and add egg whites.

Use all your stength to mix the flour and egg whites together to make a paste.

Meanwhile, whip some more egg whites (in an actualy blender this time. woo hoo!).

Add the simple syrup to the whipped whites.

Chef Thierry showing us how firm the whites and syrup should be.  He made pistachio macaroons, so his batter is green.

Mine is a slightly brown or caramel color since I made caramel macaroons.

Egg white batter gets incorporated into the paste.

And then put into a pastry bag to make the classic macaroon shape which Chef Theirry shows us here.

My turn to make the macaroons.

Then put them in the oven.

And out they come - all puffed up and beautiful.

For the filling, we took chocolate shavings.

Made a creme anglaise.

Added caramel to the creme anglaise.

And poured it over the chocolate.

Next, it needed to cool down so into the blast freezer it went.

And when it was cold, I mixed it again with a spatula.

Then popped it into a pastry bag and put the filling on the macaroons.

And voila!  Yummy, caramel macaroons with hints of chocolate.

Here are some photos of the other colors and flavors of macaroons that were made that day:

Neon yellow!

A beautiful orange.

Bright pink.

A mixture that looks like 7-UP to me.

Everyone is giddy over macaroons.

The final product of everyone's hard work - several different types of macaroons including: caramel, raspberry, lemon, chocolate, orange/rose, and pistachio.

B was one lucky husband last week.  This is the box of macaroons I brought home to him!