Macarons (the dark purple one is Christmas 2008 special edition "mille et une nuits" one thousand nights and one night),
an alternative cake to Ispahan (rose flavored biscuit, rose petal cream, fresh raspberries),
hot chocolate, and Marie-Antoinette tea(China teas mixed with essential oils of subtle citrus fruit, rose and jasmine flowers flavour, scattered with small pieces of dried fruits and honey.)

Macaron shells with the shells of the Sydney Opera House on a crispy Spring morning.

Passionfruit with Dark Chocolate Ganache...

... and Vanilla and Jasmine Macarons.

Softly, as in a morning sunrise.
Macarons from La Renaissance Patisserie Francaise.

• Raspberries
• un baby macaron
• chocolate black and white
• biscuit
• raspberry coulis

Damn I wish I had a pic...

Je n'ai pas de photo mais ce midi mom est venue déjeuner avec moi (super sympa parceque serieux manger toute seule ca craint) et elle m'a offert un Framberry. Aucune idée de ce que c'est sauf que c'est MERVEILLEUX. C'est tout ce que j'aime (rien a voir avec mc do) dans un petit mais extraordinaire gateau:

• framboises
• un minuscule macaron
• chocolat blanx & noir
• biscuit
• coulis de framboise

Mais pourquoi j'ai pas de photo !!!!

Without the magic of electricity and the love and frustration of my repetitive stress injured arm, the macaron batter had become so thick and unruly, half of it was stuck within the piping bag!

I gave birth to super sweet raspberry monsters..

Two weeks and an electric beater later...

After some research, Tartelette's macaron recipe was the most obvious choice (and look at her wonderful photos). Instead of using aged egg whites, I zapped them in the microwave on medium-heat for 15 seconds as suggested and they worked a charm - this will mimic the aging process for those who have lost the patience of waiting overnight and besides, the guys at Fauchon don't age them either. The first time I tried making macarons, I had left them overnight - and see how they turned out?!!

The buttercream was a classic French vanilla variant of the Raspberry Buttercream I found on L'Atelier Vi's blog - a teaspoon of vanilla extract since I had neither Creme de Framboise nor raspberry jam.

Last night, the stars aligned...

The meringue has formed "stiff peaks".

The macaron batter flowed like "magma". I guess, as opposed to flowing like a stubborn mule.

Unfortunately, some of my first batch burnt. They had been in the oven for 12 minutes and it was either too hot at 160C or in just too long. My second batch was much better, which leads me to think that the oven was just too hot.

However, voila! Les Macarons de Guillaume!

This was burnt just a tad.

These photographs were taken with Vesna Neskow's "The Little Black Book of Paris: The Essential Guide to the City of Light". Nicholas' mother bought the book as a gift before we went to Europe earlier this year.

First batch - slightly tan, second patch - more pink (not the baby pink I was hoping for - perhaps more colouring next time... or a decreased temperature!)

<3 I had a dream last night. Next time, they're going to be an electric violet with a passionfruit ganache...

Sarah S. presses Brian's button

In the meantime she's gone on to make THIS

☺ in French these round pins are known as 'macarons'

On saturday we saw an amazing bakery and I decided on my wedding cake. It's just that simple: reunion of my 2 passions : Macaron & raspberries, a GIANT raspberry macaron !!!  :-)

Ca fait un moment que je n'ai pas mentionné mon fruit favori mais ça ne veut pas dire que je n'en mange plus! Je garde les yeux grands ouverts et le nez...(il fait quoi le nez à part respirer?) bref, je suis aux aguais. j'ai essayé les taille fine framboise, c'est ok. Mais pas les meilleurs yaourts framboise que j'ai testé. Je commence à m'inquieter serieux quand même parceque les prix de la barquette commencent à friser l'indécent et bientôt ça sera l'hiver...encore (et plus tôt qu'on ne le croit vue les temperatures actuelles).

Samedi on est passé devant une boulangerie super classe et j'ai choisi mon gateau de marriage. c'est tout simple, il suffit d'allier mes deux passions : le macaron et la framboise, résultat: un macaron géant à la framboise :-)

Programme du jour : Le Louvre et retour vers Luxembourg.

A part un petit cauchemar à 4h30 du mat, ma nuit a été parfaite. Je me réveille un peu avant 8h. Un bon biberon, quelques macarons Ladurée, et hop je vais réveiller Maman en lui souhaitant "Happy birthday". Elle fête ses... 20 ans aujourd'hui... comme tous les ans ! Quand on aime, on a toujours 20 ans !

Elle prend son temps pour se préparer ce matin. Je dis bonjour à Mamie Nadine qui téléphone,  et nous prenons le bus pour le Louvre.

Arrivée dans la Cour Carrée, je cours comme une folle. Je regarde les statues et demande s'il s'agit de Charlotte (Nous avons une statue de la Grande Duchesse Charlotte sur une place à Luxembourg, et du coup j'appelle toutes les statues "Charlotte").

Nous passons devant la grande pyramide en verre et les jets d'eau, et nous entrons dans le Musée du Louvre. Nous commençons par déjeuner dans un des restaurants du site. Je mange comme 4 et suis bien plus sympa qu'hier.

Nous commençons la visite par les sculptures. Je donne mon avis "Moi j'aime bien ça !", puis quelques peintres de la Renaissance, la Joconde, des plafonds peints, puis la section "Egypte".

!!!

Nous avons rendez-vous en fin d'après-midi avec des amis de Maman, Sophie, Michaël, et Bruno. Nous nous arrêtons par hasard au Café Ruc (des frères Costes) Rue Saint-Honoré. N'y allez pas, en plus d'être cher, le service est lamentable... ah mais c'est vrai, nous sommes à Paris. Moi je joue sur les banquettes rouges.

A 18h, je salue nos amis, et embrasse très fort Maman. Elle part voir Madonna en concert au Stade de France, moi je rentre à Luxembourg cette nuit.

Je reprends donc le bus avec Papa jusqu'à l'hôtel. Je suis adorable. Nous prenons nos affaires, récupérons notre voiture, et prenons la route vers 19h30. Je m'endors presque immédiatement.

Nous arrivons à la maison à 23h. Papa me porte jusqu'à mon lit où je terminerai ma nuit. Rédacteur : Patrick-Robin, mon Papa.

Programme du jour : Mauvaise humeur, Notre Dame, Tuileries et bateau.

Nous sommes donc partis hier soir pour un week end à Paris pour fêter l'anniversaire de Maman. Après 4h de route et un bon repas sur la route, où j'ai fait l'admiration d'un car de touristes asiatiques, il est 22h quand nous arrivons à l'hôtel.

Notre suite est très joliment décorée (merci M. Starck !), et je m'endors à 23h !

!!!

Quand je me réveille ce matin à 6h45, il fait un temps splendide... mais Papa me "conseille" de me rendormir un peu. 1/2h plus tard, je le rappelle. Il me donne mon biberon du matin, je vais réveiller Maman et prends ma douche avec elle. Nous descendons prendre notre petit déjeuner... et j'en profite pour commencer à faire ma mauvaise tête. Papa me "prend entre 4 yeux" pour une petite explication. Une fois calmée, Maman m'explique les règles du babyfoot.

De retour dans notre suite, une petite dégustation de macarons Ladurée s'impose... avec champagne rosé pour mes parents.

!!!

Nous prenons le bus pour rejoindre la Cathédrale Notre Dame. Je continue a être assez pénible et n'en fait qu'à ma tête.

!!!

La visite terminée nous prenons le métro pour rejoindre le Jardin des Tuileries. Il fait toujours très beau, je cours dans les allées, ramasse des marrons, bref, je m'amuse bien. Nous déjeunons sur place, en terrasse, dans un petit restaurant à 7,5€ le Coca !

Mes parents me propose une petite balade dans une carriole tirée par des poneys. Je suis toute heureuse, mais je pique une colère quand je monte à bord. Je ne suis pas vraiment sympa aujourd'hui... mais cela ne va pas changer le planning de la journée.

!!!

Nous nous rendons sur les quais de la Seine, pour embarquer sur un Bateau Bus. Maman m'accompagne sur le pont, nous découvrons tous les monuments de Paris. Je suis tout de même assez fatiguée et je m'endors 3/4h dans ses bras.

Ma bonne humeur est enfin de retour, je joue avec une petite fille sur le bateau, et nous prenons le chemin du retour vers notre hôtel. Il fait très beau, et pas trop frais. Nous en profitons pour flâner un peu.

Arrivée dans notre chambre, je prends un petit biberon, et vais me coucher vers 20h30. J'ai un peu de mal à m'endormir, mais 1/2h plus tard, je dors profondément. Rédacteur: Patrick-Robin, mon Papa.

Our favourite is Croquembouche (French for 'crunch in the mouth), located in Botany, a suburb just south of Sydney. The patisserie opened in December 2000 - six months after it opened, the bakery had to move to a premise twice its original size to accommodate for its unforeseen popularity. It is run by Frederic and Laurence Caillon - the former trained as a pastry chef in Niort, France, a small town of 5000 people.

There is a buzz about this wonderful patisserie that is hard to describe - I love it.

Cakes, tarts and tartlettes.

Sensory overload.

My breakfast on Saturday - coffee, palmier and a chicken and rosemary croustade.

Our Sunday also became a bit of a pastry festival as we strolled around around Rozelle and Balmain which clearly houses one of Sydney's best bakery streets. A real treat is Adriano Zumbo's atelier -

It's a bit like haute couture here.

And his macarons! One of the best in town (if not the best) - Olive oil with vanilla extracts, passionfruit, citron, chocolate and vanilla.

Across the road is Myriam Cordelier's Victoire Boulangerie who are also the suppliers of bread on QANTAS first class. Myriam, who was heavily influenced by French chef Lionel Poilane, bakes quite probably the best palmiers in town - and perhaps also, the most expensive but the richness and quality is insurmountable. Ironically, Adriano Zumbo worked for four years with Myriam before opening his own patisserie across the road (eek!).

Unfortunately, on this sunny Sunday, Victoire had run out of palmiers (usually they run out of everything by midday Sunday) so I satisfied my palmier fix at Bagel House Bakery, opposite Rozelle Public School (and it was tres divine!!). On a side note, Nicholas loves the chicken and avocado pie from the shop next to Victoire - their name escapes me but the hot melting foie gras within was heaven.

My other haunts -

You haven't lived life if you haven't tried a stopped by Bourke Street Bakery. On a raindy day, a cup of coffee and a gourmet savoury pastry from this Sydney institution will disperse all those clouds away (symbolically speaking).

Always a crowd favourite, La Renaissance Patisserie down in The Rocks serves a mean chicken chasseur and beef burgundy pies. Also a Sydney institution, their macarons are somewhat inconsistent but on a good day, one of the best in town (only recently did they start making more and larger ones). A tad overpriced and claustrophobic with the all the tourists in town, this store is undeniably charming and their petit fours are beautiful. On a side note - not the greatest palmiers and not worth the recent price hike.

If you ever happen to be shopping in Westfields Bondi Junction, stop by Laurent Boulangerie in Bondi Westfields (outside Coles) for your mini French-fix. However, I can't assure you of total satisfaction - their macarons are usually too sweet and oily and their customer service is consistently worse than a Chinatown restaurant.

And finally, although I have only eaten there once, the Lindt Cafe in Darling Harbour serves fantastic macarons which for me, ironically overshadows any other treat in store which features their own chocolates.

Tree of macarons are seen in front of the mirror at LADUREE.
A happiest time of the day.

The brusque women behind the sparkling glass cases were filling light green and gold boxes with great speed, barely looking at the customers pointing and barking requests in French. When I got to the front, my eyes fell upon the macarons, piled high and in a rainbow of colors.  I pointed wildly, repeating s'il vous plait and merci in a breathless rush, and the surprisingly sympathetic woman not only filled my order but smiled at me.  I had survived Laduree during holiday rush.

When I returned to my little hotel, I opened up the dainty box to my macarons (ahem, also a chocolate cake and a raspberry torte)...bright and festive in raspberry, pistachio, chocolate, vanilla, and blackberry.  The first bite was a heavenly experience of delicate crunch giving way to lush, barely chewy cookie and subtly sweet ganache.  

I would love to reserve the macaron as my Parisian treat, something to be savored only when I am abroad. Realistically, with flights and the euro as it is, it will be awhile before I get back to Paris so I'll have to find something worthy here in the city.  

Here are the locations I turned up:

Almondine Bakery: 85 Water St in Dumbo, Brooklyn

Bouley Bakery: 120 W. Broadway in Tribeca

Macaron Cafe: 161 W. 36th, nr Seventh Ave

Payard: 1032 Lexington between 73rd and 74th

Bouchon Bakery: 10 Columbus Circle, 3rd Fl.

Anyway, long time ago, on graduation day, I went to Laduree with L. and D. Chef C says it is one of the best patisserie in London (but of course, the original shop in Paris is even better). It seems like they were the ones who invented the macaron shell with cream in between version that we see today. http://www.laduree.fr/

And of course, it doesn't come cheap. 6.40 quid for 100g of macaron (about 5 pieces). I had the pistachio, caramel salt butter, rose and orange. It's quite nice but I'm really new to macaron and I cannot tell if they are top notch. But the Isaphan (macaron shells with raspberry and lychee cream) is heavenly. The rose, raspberry and lychee flavours linger on your palate and blend so nicely together. A must try!

Canele is located at:

#B1-81/82 Raffles City Shopping Center

Last week, made two batches of macarons all at once:

• earl grey cookie with chocolate ganache filling
• hazelnut cookie with chocolate ganache filling

For the earl grey, I took 2 teaspoons of loose tea and ground it up with the almond and icing sugar. For the hazelnut, the almond volume was halved and replaced by ground hazelnuts. Both were successful!

There are a couple things that I've not followed of the recipe:

• When aging the egg whites, I left the whole egg out for 24+ hours instead of separating the egg whites and leaving them in a covered bowl. Maybe it's just me, but it feels more hygienic although I'm not sure if the result is the same as the other way.
• Pasteurized egg whites from a carton do not work very well. The cookies were still passable though.
• If using a food processor to combine the almond and icing sugar, further sifting is not needed.
• Tapping the tray to get the bubbles out didn't make a difference.
• I felt that leaving the tray out to develop "skin" before baking is worth it. The time varied from a 20 minutes to an hour...as long as the skin develops, and don't stick to your finger if you touch it, then it is ready.
• When baking, putting another tray in the lower shelf results in more even baking. Doubling the tray is less effective.

I'm looking to make more colours, but don't want to use coloring. I've some frozen strawberry puree in the fridge...

Programme du jour : Crèche, shopping et restaurant.

Ma nuit a été bonne... sauf que je suis tombée du lit vers 2h du matin. Rien de bien grave, Maman m'a remise dans mon lit et je me suis rendormie immédiatement.

Je me réveille vers 7h, mais je suis fatiguée. Au début de mon déjeuner, je demande d'aller me recoucher, et monte toute seule dans ma chambre.

1/2h plus tard, je suis en pleine forme, re-petit-dej, Maman part au bureau, Papa me donne ma douche et m'accompagne à la crèche pour 9h15.

Maman vient me chercher vers 18h, nous faisons 3/4h de balançoire avec mes copains de crèche, 2 petits anglais, Ashley et Maxy. Nous partons ensuite dîner chez Oberweis. Papa vient nous y rejoindre. Je suis adorable... et trouve les macarons délicieux.

Je suis encore toute excitée quand nous rentrons à la maison. Je ne serai au lit qu'à 20h45. Rédacteur : Patrick-Robin, mon Papa.

I found the photo above in an article from Serious Eats. I feel like I should study it because my macarons never turn out like that! It looks so perfect. The closest thing I ever made had a somewhat hollow cookie. I'm guessing my meringue wasn't stable enough.

While I definitely belong in a macaron fan club, I'm more obsessed with making them than eating them. I just really enjoy the challenge of acing the recipe as if it were a science project.

To tell the truth, I've never even tasted a truly authentic macaron before. So how should I know if my macarons taste right? I'm not counting the ones I got at Maison du Chocolat in NYC; their macarons were good but quite cakey. Aren't macarons supposed to have a delicate crust and a slightly chewy cookie that melts in your mouth? It sounds really complex and that's what intrigues me. I already know what I'll be doing the next time I visit Paris... macaron tour anyone??

I'll definitely keep experimenting before that happens. It's so hard to get the perfect cookie shell, and I believe half of the pleasure comes from the texture. For now, I keep relying on the pictures and descriptions of macaron lovers out there.

All of those things look completely unappealing to me. Blech.

That is all. =)

Being in Paris provides an experience to truly immerse in the culture and  the art of french pastry. Initially, it feels very different and strange see the salesman behind the counter of some pastry shops in a high-end department stores dressing up like selling jewelry. But I think that Fauchon, Pierre Hermé, Ladurée and other brands might even have such high status. 

The macarons are gaining popularity as pastries in modern time and also become trendy icons and are featured on many fashion items such as t-shirts but most notably made into macaron-shaped pendants, earrings or rings that are all the rage in some French and Japanese cities among girls and women alike.

We'd love to do some cross-over design and collaborations between macaron and another medium.

You may check a few posts by 8tokyo on the collaborations by Japanese clothing label Fauchon and q-pot, Pierre Hermé and lipton (the later one didn't seem to go well together from design perspective but certainly fine as a combination of food & drink).

Je m'exécute.

1 - Un aliment ou produit que je n'aime pas du tout :

Les champignons. Crus ou cuits, peutimporte, je les déteste. Rien que d'y penser ça me donne la nausée.

2 - Mes 3 aliments favoris :

• Le chocolat au lait
• Le kotkot fumé
• Les bananes

3 - Ma recette favorite :

L'émincé de boeuf aux poivrons (à l'indienne), le tiramisu au spéculoos
4 - Ma boisson de prédilection :

Le thé vert (avant 22h et en semaine), la bière (entre 17h et 01h du mat' le vendredi)

5 - Le plat que je rêve de réaliser et que je n'ai toujours pas fait :

Un curry de mouton au yaourth
6 - Mon meilleur souvenir culinaire :

Y en a des tonnes... Mes parents étant assez fans de la bonne cuisine, j'ai enchaîné pas mal de restaurants depuis que je suis en âge de tenir une fourchette et un couteau.

Par contre, y a un truc qui me manque énormément. Un truc insignifiant mais dont je suis nostalgique. A l'époque où mon grand-père était encore de ce monde,  on lui rendait visite le dimanche après-midi et on avait droit au morceau de tarte, à la glace, aux mignardises ou à la fameuse tarte au riz qui avait un goût de macaron! Je n'ai jamais retrouvé une tarte au riz semblable. Il y a quelques années, le pap' est allé en vadrouille à BXL pour retrouver la pâtisserie où mon grand-père achetait ce délice. Malheureusement, elle n'existe plus.

Mwala, j'envoie la patate à mon vieux con adoré : Hétérodoxe ;-) Et s'il le souhaite il peut renvoyer la patate à son tour, à 6 personnes.

So GREEN...

Nougatine's Bar

The plus side about eating in the casual dining room, which is Nougatine, is that you're able to see a better view of Central Park right across the street. The service is still very attentive and prompt except what I've learned after listening to Jean Georges himself when I had lunch with two executive chefs, that Nougatine has their food cooked from a different kitchen and I heard the food is a bit inconsistent here.

Ginger cocktail

To start things off for Ariel (after debating for five minutes and asked the waiter on his recommendation on which cocktail to pick), he finally chose the ginger cocktail. According to Ariel and the waiter, the cocktail was strong, interesting and well...good. I don't know since I don't really care for drinks that much.

Moving on with the food...we ordered from the prix fixe menu, which was fairly easy to pick since there were only two choices per course and we added two extra dishes.

First Courses

Our first courses were the spring garlic broth, soft poached egg, and dill and cucumber and mango salad, peekytoe crab, and lemongrass. I preferred the spring garlic broth over the salad. The broth is delicately flavored with garlic mixing that poached egg into that broth creates body from the gooey egg yolk. The enoki mushrooms added a subtle crunchy texture, still playing on that subtle flavors along with the dill. The salad, composed of arugula, chunks of cucumber and mango, topped off with a crab mixture, was good but not memorable.

Chilled artichoke & Foie Gras Brulee

Moving on to our second (a la carte) course, we had the chilled artichoke, mustard mayonnaise, chervil and lemon and our beloved foie gras brulee with pineapple-Meyer lemon jam. I ordered the artichoke because I had a craving for something seasonal. The artichoke was very simple and minimalist in terms of how it's cooked with a side of a creamy sauce. I was expecting more or interesting from this dish but obviously, this wasn't it.

NOM!

As for the foie gras brulee, I don't think I need to say more if you've been reading my blog for the past several months. Simply stating, we LOVE this dish. The crunchy, toasted brioche, topped with the fabulously rich foie gras encrusted with salt and sugar. The addition of the pineapple-Meyer lemon jam added a sweet-tart flavor to the party. The textures and flavors meld so wonderfully that it never ceases to please our palates. Ariel actually had a peculiar way of eating that foie gras - taking dime-sized bites to savor his share of the beloved liver.

Our entrees

Going back to the prix fixe menu, we had our entrées: gently cooked hake, spicy aioli, zucchini and mint and grilled pork loin, spring onion gastrique, herbal ginger purée. My qualms with both of these entrées were the fact that they're a tad overcooked. The pork is fully cooked that it killed the texture of good quality meat. The hake has a similar situation where the fish's flesh was flaking (as you can see from the photo). They're great ingredients but somehow it's been ruined by cooking it or warming it for too long.

Desserts

We finally reached the end of the meal with desserts. Ariel had the walnut financier, poached apples, red wine granite and I had the white chocolate parfait, rhubarb gel, crème fraîche sorbet. Neither dessert has taken my heart. It sounds more interesting on the menu than in person. Ariel's financier was good from the slightly bitter nuances from the walnut and the acidic, icy crystals of the granite but it just fizzled in terms of how excited my taste buds were. As for my white chocolate parfait, the parfait is creamy, albeit a tad too frozen, with the crème fraîche sorbet it made it creamier and a bit more interesting but the rhubarb didn't really come through. I felt disappointed on this course.

After finishing our desserts and paid the check. Ariel and I hanged around the Time Warner Center since I was waiting for Kim's arrival since we're going to see the ballet later on the evening. Since Ariel was being a pal, we just perused the stuff at Hugo Boss and I finally took him to Bouchon Bakery. Yes, my go-to lunch place back in the days I was in school and it's his first time here.

Boston Cream Donut & Strawberry Rhubarb Macaron

Since Ariel was curious about my odd obsession with macarons, he wanted to try one since I keep dismissing Bouchon's as a decent macaron (and he never tried a macaron before) and the ginormous Boston Cream donut.

Innards

If you look at the macaron's innards shot closely, it's still relatively dry, chewy, needs more FILLING, and the rhubarb flavor needs to be amplified by a few notches. It's still not good, despite the fact I'm hearing so many people saying it's an awesome macaron. The donut was a dense gut bomb. The donut itself is heavy and tasted a bit oily. Then to layer on the heftiness of the entire concoction is the decent vanilla-specked custard. I felt like I ate a brick after eating my half; Ariel just plopped his remaining few bites and said in disgust "I need a walk." and we have indeed. But what happened Bouchon ever since I graduated? Did I happen to stumble on a bad day? Or it's gone for the worse?

Anyway, I did meet up with Kim after walking around Central Park with Ariel for a bit to burn off a microscopic fraction of what we ate.

Addresses:
Nougatine at Jean Georges
1 Central Park West
New York, NY 10023

Bouchon Bakery
10 Columbus Circle
New York, NY 10019