Pastry of the Day: Macarons

Unlike the coconut-based confection commonly called macaroons, a macaron is a meringue-based sweet that is pretty much made with three basic ingredients: egg whites, sugar, and almond flour. As simple as that sounds though, successfully pulling these babies out of the oven is a difficult process. If you stir the batter too much, it won't rise into a nice cookie shape. If it's too humid outside, everything will fall flat. Basically, if you get out of the wrong side of the bed, these cookies will not turn out right. Which is why a good macaron shop is worth its weight in gold.

From what I can tell, Paris currently has two top contenders when it comes to taking the crown for macarons: Ladurée, and Pierre Hermé. I've sampled Ladurée macarons before that came from their NY branch, and found them good but not amazing. So when my brother-in-law suggested that we stop by Pierre Hermé, I thought this was a perfect chance for some comparison tasting.

We quickly got a dozen to split, and I was delighted to find some very interesting flavor combinations in the mix. In order to not bore whoever is still reading at this point, I am only going to comment on the top five flavors that I liked the best.

Favorite of the bunch: Infinimite Caramel

Yes, I know I just said that I was delighted to see interesting flavor profiles, but this classic macaron won my heart. It hit all the right spots for my taste... the outside was crackled and gave in to soft and slightly chewy insides. The caramel was made with salted butter, which melted wonderfully in my mouth with a slight bruleéd sugary buttery aftertaste. Curiously, I don't think the filling was pure caramel, but caramel buttercream. I didn't mind though, as it enhanced the airiness of the entire macaron.

#2: Mogador. Milk Chocolate & Passionfruit

Another classic flavor! There's a reason why this one works so well; the sweet and tart plays off each other perfectly. I could smell the passionfruit right away, and the tartness hit my mouth as soon as I took a bite. As I chewed, the chocolate asserted itself into a sweet finish.

#3: Jardin d'Eden. Vanilla & Basil

Last week, I could have told you that I wasn't a big fan of herbs being used in sweets. And then twice in two days, I have been pleasantly surprised by the addition of basil in a sweet component. And this macaron was serious about its basil; there were actual flecks of the herb inside. But balanced by the sweet, it never tasted like it should be garnish on top of an entree. This was refreshing and eye-opening at the same time.

#4: Médélice. Lemon, Praline, & Nuts

This macaron held a surprise inside. Hidden within the lemon cream was a small layer of praline! I never thought lemon and nuts worked well together, but this was surprisingly good. Neither flavor threatened to dominate the other, and worked in harmony.

#5: Infinimite Jasmin. Jasmine Flower & Jasmin Tea

I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed this one. Jasmine can be such an overwhelming flavor. But this macaron was quite mild, even though the flavor was pure. At first bite, I really tasted the flowery essence of the jasmine, while the tea component asserted itself at the end.

I don't know if I'm ready to crown Pierre Hermé the king of macarons yet, but these certainly rank among some of the best I've ever had. Of course, this is an experiment that I am only too happy to partake in during  the next three weeks. I will try to have a taste of as many macarons as I can... for research's sake, of course!

So many macarons, so little time!