The macaron, the superstar of ‘sugarama’

French macaron … I like how the sound of it just rolls off my tongue, but prefer it a hundred times more when I take a bite of it! When made right, this Parisian sweet indulgence is as gorgeous as it is delicious.

The basic French macaron is a combination of two almond-flavored meringue cookies sandwiched together traditionally with butter-cream filling. It is a visual delight that’s melt-in-the-mouth spectacular. Weightless with an airy density to it, crunchy on the outside and chewy-soft in the center, these dainty, exquisite bites are totally irresistible and don’t feel like they will wreck your calorie count for the day, as long as you do not eat more than two in one sitting.

The French macaron is the current rage of “sugarama” and has elevated to superstar status in terms of popularity, eclipsing the commercial, crowd-pleasing cupcake. Whereas the cupcake evokes the old-fashioned, homespun feel of backyard children’s birthday parties and community bake-fair socials, the macaron reflects Paris’s adult sophistication and that’s probably what lends to its appeal. The macaron has spawned elegant Parisian dessert shops in the more plush districts of Metro Manila. The more commercial bakeshops have also offered it, but they churn out rather compromised versions of the genuine article. Anyway, right now the macaron seems to be the buzzword. However, in my cooking school, my macaron workshop, as well as the course on cupcakes, are both always full.  So, which one will linger and which will fade? 

At the recent macaron workshop I conducted, I tried to demystify the macaron’s magical hold on us dessert lovers by asking each of the students their reason for attending. Most answered that they had already tried baking macarons at home by following a recipe or through online video tutorials, but generally the outcome was less than desirable. They failed at creating a satisfyingly consistent batch of macarons. For one, the shape of the macarons differed from each other, the cookie baked flat, it was too hard, etc. And upon comparing recipes, confusion arose even as to trivial matters like how old the egg whites used as an ingredient should be.

I assured them that it is not as complex as it seems. I personally do not think that the age of the egg whites even matters. Just follow the technique, use the right amount of ingredients, and bake it with the prescribed tools and equipment (either deck or conventional). Through constant practice, I came up with the idea of drawing on a parchment paper the shape of the macaron, so when the meringue batter is piped in, it is perfectly shaped with more ease. It would be more precise to pipe in the meringue. They were ecstatic to get perfectly rounded macarons of a consistent size and shape. In hindsight, mistakes through experimentation would have been averted since I laid the groundwork, already going through several trials and errors before I came up with a foolproof formula that has no room for error.

I remembered my own enthusiasm stepping into New York’s newest kid on the block, the Macaron Parlour, a couple of months back, to capitalize on the macaron frenzy.

Located at 111 Saint Marks Place in a nondescript basement store five steps down from street level in New York’s cultural mecca, the East Village, the Macaron Parlour patisserie is the brainchild of recently married couple Christina Ha and Simon Tung. Christina is a graduate of La Haute Pâtisserie Pierre Hermé in Paris. Pierre Hermé is known as the Picasso of Pastry. He is most famous for his macarons, many of which have unusual flavor combinations. The sales person informed me that their newly opened store was the result of being market nomads for two years, moving shop from the Hester Street Fair to the Union Square Holiday Market. Frequent questions from customers as to the store location was the necessary push Simon and Christina needed in order to finally decide on setting up the store.

I asked if I could go around back and visit their kitchen, curious as to the how’s and why’s of New York’s up-and-coming dessert boutique. It was refreshing to see the owner herself, Christina, at the helm of production making the macarons, making sure everything was just right. I felt validated to see her use the same technique I came up with through various experiments before I perfected my macaron formula. They, too, use parchment paper instead of a silicone mat. As Simon takes over the front lines, talking to customers and supervising the daily operations of the store, this husband-and-wife team would give anybody a run for their money in terms of running their business.

I am not particularly crazy about macarons but I do think these dainty-sweet rainbow bites bring on sunshiny smiles and warmth on the coldest, dreariest nights, and that’s just what I needed last fall when I was there. I entered the brick-and-mortar storefront with high expectations and was not disappointed. The display for one was a priceless treat. Instead of carnival-bright colors, the macarons came in subtle shades of brown, orange and dark purple, paying homage to the season of autumn. Flavors were wide, varied and fun, from crowd pleasers like salted caramel, S’mores, Snickers, dark chocolate, pumpkin, pistachio, peanut butter cup and Elvis (caramelized banana and peanut butter) to more ambitious endeavors like honey and cognac, savory Thai chili, and candied bacon with maple cream cheese frosting. I got a bunch of flavors like mocha, maple and bacon and salted caramel. They had that perfect macaron texture, offering a crisp outside immediately giving way to a soft interior plus a great buttery center. I was sold! Almost everything Macaron Parlour offered seemed to be consistently good at the very least, and plain awesome at best. I would also clean the place out if the macarons weren’t so expensive!

Now, back to the macaron vs. cupcake showdown. I personally believe that we will see the two prevail above other pastry indulgences for a while. For one, they are appealing because of their portability — they can be eaten with fingers and small bites. And they are a playground for a chef’s imagination and artistry — a lot of exciting flavor combinations can be conceived between the two. But in terms of intricacy, in my opinion, anyone can bake cupcakes on a whim, but macarons are a whole different matter. Macarons require planning, precision, and patience. Macarons deserve more respect as a pastry art than just a trendy fashion. It is a French culinary treasure that hopefully will not fall into the path of mass production.

In the ever-evolving great culinary city of New York, there is absolutely no shortage of gourmet wonders, from irresistible macarons to magical cupcakes and a host of gustatory pleasures! New York has four totally different faces with the changing of the seasons, but since my last visit, I discovered that autumn is definitely my favorite. I will be back soon!

* * *

You may e-mail the author at info@henysison.com, log on www.henysison.com or join the HenySison FB account.