July 29th, 2013 | Demos, Food Scene  Aran Goyoaga surrounded by trays of macarons in the Williams-Sonoma demonstration kitchen
Aran Goyoaga, food photographer and stylist shares her life in food on her award-winning blog, Cannelle et Vanille. Not only is the blog a visually stunning food diary, it also provides recipe inspiration for eating gluten-free, something Aran has had to adjust to since discovering her intolerance in 2009. In the fall of 2012, she released her first cookbook, Small Plates & Sweet Treats which contains gluten-free recipes organized by season.
This past weekend, I had the pleasure of meeting Aran when she made a stop at Williams-Sonoma Union Square in San Francisco to sign her book and demonstrate how to make macarons. It is such a finicky pastry to get right so I am always interested in seeing people’s variations on the technique. I’ve jotted down some great tips from Aran and I have to say her macarons tasted delicieux.
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March 31st, 2013 | San Francisco Every year, March 20th is dedicated to the macaron. The celebration originated in Paris by Pastry Chef Pierre Herme. I hope to one day join the festivities there as it seems to get more elaborate every year. There is a map with participating patisseries offering a free macaron and it’s a day of going from one shop to the next eating. This year aprons were created with the Macaron Day logo. In New York, Francois Payard has brought the tradition stateside with a similar macaron tour of shops in the city. Here in San Francisco, it isn’t quite as organized unfortunately but nonetheless I celebrated by getting macarons from b.patisserie.
My bag to go with one of each flavor
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Valentine’s week I attempted the Bouchon Bakery macarons, twice. I didn’t get them quite right and not because of the recipe. It is a solid one and I plan to use it in the future but I need to experiment with placement in the oven so they bake properly. In this post I go into detail on the process. The filling is a raspberry buttercream that I made by flavoring a French buttercream with seedless raspberry jam.
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January 8th, 2013 | San Francisco It has been a good four months since the highly anticipated pastry shop, Tout Sweet opened in Macy’s Union Square. Pastry Chef Yigit Pura won over the hearts of many, including mine during his run and eventual win on the first season of Top Chef: Just Desserts back in 2010. Excited and proud for the hometown chef, we San Franciscans had been waiting patiently for his next big move and Tout Sweet opened with a bang. Within the first few weeks of opening in September I went in for a taste 5 separate times. If you’re looking for a bit of Paris, this is the place to go.
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October 30th, 2012 | Paris This post is one of many documenting my week in Paris, a present to myself for graduating pastry school in the fall of 2012. Every moment was spent eating and one post wasn’t enough. It’s now a short novel. Kidding. I hope.
I’m having major Paris withdrawal since returning less than 24 hours ago. So here we go, a Paris-inspired ORANGE post to celebrate the Giants World Series win #2 since I missed the entire thing as I was busily stuffing my face with pastries.
“Napolean Noir,” Laduree’s gorgeous black box with an intricate gold trim. According to refinery29, they put together a special limited edition box for Halloween in the New York shop that has a macaron with orange passion fruit filling.
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April 23rd, 2012 | Events, San Francisco At the Meals on Wheels Star Chefs & Vintners Gala dessert reception, San Francisco’s best pastry chefs came together to present showstopping dessert spreads. One of the tables that was abuzz the entire night was that of Top Chef Just Desserts winner and Meals on Wheels 2012 calendar star, Yigit Pura. We all got a preview of what is in store for his new pastry shop, Tout Sweet Patisserie set to open this summer.
The macaron table getting prepped. I loved the use of the glass apothecary jars to display the macarons. It lends a sophisticated, Parisian aesthetic like at Laduree.
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February 8th, 2012 | New York On my latest trip to New York I decided to make it a macaron trip, the idea mainly inspired by the opening last year of Ladurée, the famous Parisian tea salon that finally has come to the states. I hope Pierre Hermé will follow suit but for now I will settle for a little piece of Paris in Ladurée, literally, as the macarons are flown over every week.
And before I get into the little details of each macaron, here is my blurb, macaron tasting 101, because I take it that seriously. It’s like wine tasting.
Ladurée’s pastel green is as recognizable to sweet lovers as Tiffany’s blue is to shopaholics. In the midst of the rainy weather, the window display on Madison Avenue was a welcoming spring combination of green and lavender. This is the only photo I have of the shop, as true to the Paris locations, photography is not allowed inside. I figured the window was acceptable since it is viewable from the outside.
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February 8th, 2012 | New York I thought I’d write an entry on what I look for when I try macarons. For me, the ultimate macaron comes from Pierre Herme in Paris so I like to use that as a basis, but just that because if I were to compare everything to that, I’d probably be disappointed 95% of the time. Here are my criteria for great macarons:
1. Macaron to filling ratio- Pierre Herme uses a generous amount of filling (some like it and some don’t) that is as thick as one of the macarons that forms the sandwich. It is sad when I come across macarons where I can barely see what is inside. That is usually my first clue not to buy it.
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Deliciously Noted is a food blog documenting my life in San Francisco, eating, baking, meeting artisans and chefs and when in need of an escape from the fog, sharing about my getaways to New York or Paris.
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