French Macaroons Challenge
When I lived in Paris, my first introduction to French patisserie was courtesy of the French Macaroon. Up until then, I always assumed macaroons were the gross coconut biscuits that debuted at our home on Passover every year. During my first week living in Paris, David and I went to La Duree on the Champs Elysees and stood outside in 30 degree temperature for an hour in a line of impatient tourists. We were all waiting for our turn at being served a hand picked variety of French macaroon flavors with pot of tea in the world famous restaurant destination.
My first macaroon was a raspberry one and it was magical! These bite sized cookies bursted with flavour and were small enough for me to be able to sample several different flavors in one sitting. I had a lot of free time on my hands and was eager to explore Paris and take up some new hobbies. Why no start with a macaroon making course?
As you've read in the My Journey section, I took a macaroon making class at a small French patisserie and ultimately ended up interning there once a week! The most fun part of my experience there was assisting the head chef with her macaroon making classes to English speaking customers. Since her English wasn't perfect, she benefited from my assistance and my translating skills in a kitchen class typically filled with English speaking families on vacation. We mostly taught only chocolate and raspberry flavored macaroons, so the French macaroon chapter of my challenge was quite exciting as well as challenging. I've experimented with a variety of new flavors, including lemon, lime, pistachio, mocha, coconut, hazelnut, and strawberry. Since French macaroons are naturally wheat free, I made them for Passover this year too. I got Kudos from family and friends for providing them with the most gourmet Passover desserts they've had to date. Mostly because everyone is tired of the old fashioned coconut Passover macaroons.
My first macaroon was a raspberry one and it was magical! These bite sized cookies bursted with flavour and were small enough for me to be able to sample several different flavors in one sitting. I had a lot of free time on my hands and was eager to explore Paris and take up some new hobbies. Why no start with a macaroon making course?
As you've read in the My Journey section, I took a macaroon making class at a small French patisserie and ultimately ended up interning there once a week! The most fun part of my experience there was assisting the head chef with her macaroon making classes to English speaking customers. Since her English wasn't perfect, she benefited from my assistance and my translating skills in a kitchen class typically filled with English speaking families on vacation. We mostly taught only chocolate and raspberry flavored macaroons, so the French macaroon chapter of my challenge was quite exciting as well as challenging. I've experimented with a variety of new flavors, including lemon, lime, pistachio, mocha, coconut, hazelnut, and strawberry. Since French macaroons are naturally wheat free, I made them for Passover this year too. I got Kudos from family and friends for providing them with the most gourmet Passover desserts they've had to date. Mostly because everyone is tired of the old fashioned coconut Passover macaroons.
