bake - June 2017 - 40

sweet goods

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Magic of Macarons
From Paris to New York to Seattle, the French macaron con-

of taking two macaron shells and joining them with a delicious

tinues to make its way into the hearts and minds of American

ganache ﬁlling. Since this time, the recipe did not change.

consumers. This trend shows no sign of slowing down.
In September 1997, a new prestigious Ladurée address, both a
FP Patisserie, for example, is the luxury high-end brand from

restaurant and a tea room opened on the Champs-Elysées in

acclaimed pastry chef François Payard, featuring cakes, pas-

Paris. President David Holder decides to bring back the great

tries, tarts, chocolates and confections made from only the ﬁn-

classics, which have contributed to the reputation of this "salon

est ingredients. The ﬂagship location of FP Patisserie is found

de thé," as well as to create an environment for gastronomic

on the upper east side of Manhattan, and is divided into three

creativity in Paris.

distinct sections: the pastry shop, the bar and the dining area.
The newest Ladurée in America opened May 2 in WashingFrom the sidewalk, window shoppers and customers alike may

ton, D.C. The 1,100-square foot store serves dozens of colorful

see the artfully arranged pastry displays and colorful macaron

French macaron ﬂavors inside a location designed to create the

collection, thoughtfully arranged in custom glass display cases

feel of a French salon.

accented with the quintessential "Payard Orange" colored marble.
Additionally, all of the merchandise is openly displayed on custom

"It's not so easy to make macaron, so we really are super

created dark wood bookcases, as if being featured in a library.

control freaks about what we use," Ladurée USA co-president
Elisabeth Holder Raberin says. "We have chefs training for

"My pastry menu is consistent with a market menu," says Pa-

years to make macaron. They wake up at 2 a.m. to bake."

yard, who says his favorite ﬂavor combinations are dark chocolate, caramel and salted peanuts (very American), passion fruit

While making her unique "ﬂower" macarons, award-winning

and raspberry, and pistachio and cherry. "When you use too

baker Deborah Ott from France relies on white chocolate

many ﬂavors, the identity of each ﬂavor gets lost. I try to keep

cream ﬁlling, prepared using heavy cream, white chocolate

it simple," he says.

and cornstarch. She emphasizes the importance of balancing
ﬂavors for maximum appeal.

Further evidence of the rise of the French macaron in American
can be found at Ladurée. Today, there are eight US locations of

"What is very important in the macaron," bakery owner Pierre

the famed Ladurée, including stores in New York City, Washing-

Zimmerman says of the classic French dessert, "is the ﬁrst bite

ton, D.C., Los Angeles and Miami.

is the key. The classic shell is meringue, which is very neutral.
So there has to be a real explosion of ﬂavor because there are

The story of the Paris-born Ladurée macaron starts in the middle

only two bites. The key is to lower the sugar in the macaron ﬁll-

of the 20th century with Pierre Desfontaines, who ﬁrst thought

ing, so the ﬁlling is not too sweet."

40 < JUN 2017 | bakemag.com

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bake - June 2017

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