Macarons!

Lying in bed on a lazy Sunday browsing through foody blogs to try and awaken the sweet toothed girl that I know must be in here somewhere (I've always favoured savoury), and I noticed one thing that kept popping up. Now macarons have always seemed to me to be a posh-people food that didn't really enter my radar, but the bright colours and bubbling textures caught my eye on this particular lazy Sunday. Despite never having tasted a macaron (which, whether right or wrong I will always pronounce as macaroons), I immediately knew that these meringue based desserts were the perfect thing to coax me back into sugar land. I could just picture myself curled up on the sofa in my new chunky knit jumper with a big pot of tea (ignoring the fact that I live in 30 degree heat) munching away on dozens of flavours of macarons. With little hesitation I popped down to the nearest place to pick up some macarons...Paul's bakery. Whilst not the most highly recommended place, the real lovers favouring Laduree or Pierre Herme, you can get a box of 12 for around 35DHS (around 5 or 6 quid).

Top to bottom we have: Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, lemon, coffee and pistachio.

I've never been one for fruit flavoured dessert (aren't we fussy today), but that didn't stop me scoffing them down...For me, the winner was pistachio, closely followed by vanilla, and then chocolate. Being somewhat of a macaron amateur, I'm not sure whether it was to do with the flavourings or just the quality, but I found the fruit flavours a lot chewier. The official losing of the macaron virginity was at a fancy brunch where they had the most beautiful, melt in the mouth textures, which was what I had been hoping for with these. The more classic flavours (not plain, classic) I found, had such a satisfying first bite..hard outer shell that just fell away when you bit into it, filling your mouth with more delicious a flavour than you could think possible, helped by the soft and creamy ganache or creams inside. Whilst the Paul macarons temporarily satiated my hunger, I am now on the hunt for the best I can find. 

Whilst Laduree macarons can set you back a bit, it is truly a case of quality rather than quantity...from the beautiful presentation to the incredible range of flavours, now available in these http://www.laduree.fr/en/maisons/monde countries.