More about Macarons

Laduree's rose, chestnut, pistachio, praline, salted caramel and raspberry macarons.

(from Ladurée, Burlington Arcade, Piccadilly, London.)

Laduree's macaroons are arranged like gems in the gold covered interior of the shop that opens out into the Burlington Arcade.

These are soft macarons ( French macarons) very similar to meringue with ground almonds. They are crisp on the outside and softer inside sandwiched togther with a smooth creamy filling making a good contrast of textures.

Macarons are believed to have originated in Italy and the English word comes from the Italian word maccarone meaning paste The original Italian macaroon was similar to Amaretti biscuits.

My taste tests reveal that the rose one is my favourite followed by the praline and vanilla. The vanilla one got eaten before the photo was taken. The salted caramel had a lovely caramel filling and was not really salty. I didn't think the pistachio one had a lot of flavour, it is one of their most popular ones maybe because of it's colour and I prefer the creamy fillings to the jam like filling of the raspberry one.

I have read that Yauatacha tearroom in nearby Broadwick Street serves macaroons such as Champagne with gold leaf or kumquat. They are a fusion between Chinese dim sum and European patisserie with Asian influenced flavours so those will be the next for me to try. Jasmine and green tea might be interesting.