Macarons Redux

My macaron obsession is at an all-time high, and quite frankly, I can’t believe it’s been so long since I’ve shown you some! For a macaron lover like me, that’s sacrilege! Thus, let’s take a walk down memory lane…a lane full of sweet, fluffy goodness (and not the bowl of spinach and strawberry salad I just devoured for dinner). Shall we?

This first batch of macaron photos were taken about 4 months ago, believe it or not. I had just had a really good day at my job at the time, and my dad, who I carpooled with, was running later than planned, so I had about 40 minutes to spare. Instead of doing anything productive like catching up on emails or maybe squeezing in a super quick cardio sesh at the gym (HA!), my mind immediately went to food (when does it not?). It was a Friday and I always do this thing where I mentally tell myself it’s okay to eat whatever I want on Fridays because…hey, it’s Friday, it’s the end of the week and well, why not (NOT GOOD)!? So, I went a little crazy with the macarons at the local supermarket…hehe…oops. I’m honestly amazed that I managed to get through the hour (or sometimes longer) car ride home and photograph them while they were still (mostly) intact. My family & I thoroughly enjoyed these tasty little gems over the course of the weekend and I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into some more lovely macarons.

Fast forward about a month, and we’re getting close to the ultimate indulgence here, but first, whoa…were these GOOD!? It was my last week of work for the summer and I decided to treat myself, and of course, in my mind, treat means macarons! These lovely macarons are from a little bakery in Toronto that stocks Petite & Sweet macarons and my, oh, my…these are BY FAR the best local macarons that I’ve tried! Sweet, but not too sweet, light, fluffy and just…lovely. They are rather expensive, mind you, but I can honestly say, with confidence, you get what you pay for with macarons. If you were wondering, cotton candy was my favourite flavour, and no, it had nothing to do with the light pink filling, though, that never hurts! Honestly, I know this sounds cheesy, but this macaron transported me back to the days when I would go to fun fair with my parents as a child. I would always be fine while I was there, but as soon as we started to make a move towards the exit, I’d practically demand a bag of cotton candy for the road (honestly, little Siobhan, eh!? What a DIVA! :P) Well, this tasted just like one of those bags chockfull of freshly spun cotton candy, but a more refined, grown-up version. Can you say fantastic!?

Yup, you guessed it! The most incredible, delectable, delicious and memorable macarons of the last little while in my life were from October. I went to this, oh, you know, totally casual place, you might have heard of it? It’s called Ladurée and it may or may not be the happiest place on Earth. Haha, okay, so you probably have heard of it if you are a resident of France or if you read my recap post of my travels to Paris, or if you are a lover of all things sweet, like me. It’s one of the world’s most famous and credited bakeries and I STILL cannot believe I had the chance to not only go into one, but to sample some of their popular macarons. Now, I couldn’t actually take photos inside, which totally stinks because apparently, if we went to the one off of the Champs-Elysées, we could have. :/ But, I’ve also heard that the associates that were there when I was were super mean (they told someone in front of me off for taking a photo), but who knows, it’s unclear. Regardless, I managed to wait in the line that was nearly out the door, snap some up and wait to photograph them at a more opportune time…aka….like, 2 hours later. I’m sorry, I couldn’t wait anymore! Thus, the photos above aren’t captured in the best of light and there is no super professional or creative set-up, simply because I took like 6 photos on my camera (3 of which came out blurry), one on my travel phone, and then hunkered down  into some well-deserved, special macaron time (being a tourist is hard, okay!? #firstworldproblems). Friends, these are the best macarons I have ever had the pleasure of eating. They literally fall apart in your mouth, they are that moist and wonderful. If I had the chance to go back and get more yummy goodness, I would try some more “risky” flavours, because I wasn’t exactly…adventurous. Oh well, better to stick to what you know and enjoy than to get some absurd flavour that gives you temporary street cred but that you can’t even swallow, right!? Right.

Unfortunately, I have not had a macaron since. Boo! I do have hopes of going to a pretty popular bakery in Toronto, Nadège, in the spring (aka when I have some dough. HA! No pun intended!), but until then, I don’t foresee any macarons being enjoyed by yours truly. I guess it works out well, because I am trying to eat clean, but STILL….I miss them! Oh well, it will make them that much sweeter, I guess. 😉

So, tell me, did you like these photos? Do any spark your curiousty? Are you as obsessed with macarons as I am? What would you order if you had the chance to go to Ladurée?

Stay sweet,
S♥