Macaron make wonderful wedding favors
February 14, 2009Macarons are very popular this year – Thea has made literally thousands of these delicious traditional French pastries as wedding favors thissummer.
Not to be confused with Macaroons, Macarons are ethereal almond cookies, ‘sandwich-like pastries made with two thin cookies and a cream or ganache between the cookies. Macaroons are dense cookies made either with coconut or with a coarse almond paste (Wikipedia). They are notoriously vexing for pastry chefs, ‘crunch and crisp on the outside but chewy inside intermixing with the icing/cream filling in between the two cookies‘.
Thea, of course, has her own recipe, which calls for ground almonds (about 25% more almond, she tells me), which she got to by combining a recipe from her mentor chef George Wagner, and one in Buffets Sucres: Sweet Buffets
Needless to say, Thea’s macarons are fantastic, and she has has rave reviews all summer from brides who have opted for these elegant wedding favors. And Thea loves making them – she is a pastry chef at heart, and is still thrilled when she produces such delicate, delicious treats for someone’s special day!
more links:
The Story of the Macaron at the Laduree Paris website
the Macaron Museum (Musee de Macaron) in Montmarillon, France
Wallpaper reviews Pierre Herme’s book ‘Macaron‘, commenting the great photographs ‘belie both the time involved and the difficulty of the process.’