Macaron Madness

I have some other writing work to do but have decided that I will write about French Macarons instead. After all, I'm at a perfect spot to write about French treats, I'm sitting at Patisserie 46 in Minneapolis with a writing friend of mine and I'm about to purchase one of Patisserie 46's wonderful salted caramel macarons so I can taste test it - taste testing is essential to my macaron research, you know.

I admit, I will probably buy one of their mocha French macarons, too, and maybe one of the raspberry ones. Oh, and there was lemon one I could try and pistachio and...

Okay I limited myself to three. The salted caramel, a white chocolate filled with dark chocolate ganache and a chocolate filled with Earl Grey infused chocolate ganache and orange marmalade.

I've been on a French Macaron quest of sorts. (I must like baking quests. I was on a quest for the perfect chocolate cake awhile back). I'm not entirely sure why I'm on this French Macaron quest other than I love eating them and find great comfort in baking things.

I suppose I should talk a moment about macarons just to be sure you don't think I'm writing about cocoanut macaroons. French Macarons (pronounced as though you are saying "macaroni" without the "i" at the end of the word) are a wonderful little almond merangie sort of sandwich cookie filled with good stuff like chocolate ganache and flavored buttercream. Yum. I'll post a link to a recipe or two in the next few days. I've tried three recipes so far. I have yet to find a favorite and fool-proof recipe but am getting close.

I made these last night. They are chocolate with a Kahlua/mocha buttercream filling.

I gave some to my brother, Joel, because I like him. He said "mmmmm" when he ate one.

To get a better idea of what they are and the history behind them, it's worth reading this wonderfully fun article about macarons, "Macarons, Macaroons, Macaroni." Thanks to Doug Bratland for telling me about the article. (Doug, by the way, is a fabulous musician and all around cool guy with a beard. ).

To get a better idea of what French Macarons taste like and why it's worth spending tons of time and energy making them (and blogging about them) you'll simply have to try one for yourself. 

I think I'd better take a break and do that now. Salted Caramel French Macaron, here I come!

Patisserie 46 Macarons - The white chocolate/dark chocolate macaron is on top.

Earl Grey chocolate with marmalade on the bottom left. Salted caramel on the bottom right.

Oh yes, did I like the macarons from Patisserie 46? Why yes, yes I did. I felt it was essential to eat all three of them because I knew you would want to know which one was best. Here's the results of my research....

Patisserie 46's French macarons have a lovely, crisp shell (mine get a somewhat crisp shell but I have yet to replicate the perfection of Patisserie's). Biting into them is a wonderful experience. At first you'd think the shell is going to be crisp all the way through but no, you quickly hit the melt-in-your-mouth light texture of the meringue. Then, oh the best part, you get to the filling and a totally new texture, thick, rich and oh so good! 

My favorite of the three, hands down, was the salted caramel. Second the white chocolate/dark chocolate and last but not least the Earl Grey/Marmalade. I wanted to like the Earl Grey best, because I love Earl Grey tea and it sounded so good, but I found the flavor perhaps a bit too strong for my taste. Still, I would happily eat a dozen of them because even my least favorite macaron from Patisserie 46 was divine.