Firstly, what is a macaron? It’s a French
confectionary made of a meringue shell with a buttercream or ganache filling.
They’re colourful and come in many flavours, you even find savoury ones these
days.
They originally appeared in France during
the Renaissance when Catherine de Medicis brought some Italian pastry chefs
with her into the country.
In the last decade, a Macaron-mania has developed
in France and this elegant sweet treat, once mainly sold by luxurious food
brands invaded every single bakery and even supermarket in France.
So, can we find real French macarons in the
Irish capital? Mr. FFID and
yours truly did a Dublin Macaron marathon, picked up a pistachio macaron and
another flavour just to make sure (not because we’re gluttons) from 6 different
locations in the city centre that sell French macarons. We judged the macarons and marked them
following 4 different criteria: look, texture, taste and value.
Here’s our ranking:
Cocoa Atelier is a chocolate and macaron
boutique on Drury street, this place looks a lot like the shops you find in
Paris. It was the only shop where they didn’t have a pistachio flavoured
macaron when we visited. I’ve seen pistachio macarons there before, and in
fairness they actually stood out for their wide choice including some unique
flavours: nougat, rose, gingerbread… We decided to judge their Gingerbread
macaron since their passion fruit one arrived broken. I noticed that their
macaron’s shells are more delicate and therefore more breakable than any other
place: a pity! The passion fruit macaron deserved a 10/10 for its flavour!
Our
verdict:
Look
8/10: regular shape, smooth shell
Texture
9/10: Lovely light and melt in the mouth texture,
nice contrast between the crunchy shell and soft filling
Taste
9/10: Not too sweet, beautiful gingerbread
aftertaste, divine
Value
7/10: €1.60 for a macaron, small and not cheap
Total 33/40
We
like: Their pretty window display and their elegant shop
We like less: The
macarons break easily (passion fruit macaron tasted simply amazing but arrived
home broken despite our care).
Armelle’s Kitchen is a cake shop based in
Kilcullen where French native Armelle and her Scottish husband Kenny sell their
homemade baked goods. They deliver their macarons once a week to different
stockists in Dublin city centre. We bought a pack of 2 pistachio macarons in Fresh Grand Canal, they also had vanilla, lemon and raspberry. I had them
before and the vanilla flavour would be my second favourite of their range.
Look 6/10: The biggest macaron and while a little
irregular was the most homemade looking (Although the other flavours seemed to look perfectly smooth)
Clear green colour, filling looked creamy,
didn’t look as breakable as some
Texture
8/10: The filling is very creamy and buttery
(probably makes it the most suitable for Irish palates), very good contrast
between the hard shell and soft inside
Taste
8/10: A delicious pronounced taste of almond and
leaves a good pistachio aftertaste
Value
8/10: €2.99 for a pack of 2. Very good value considering its size
and taste
Total 30/40
We
like: The macarons are hand made in a small Irish business and the packaging is handy (
We
like less: Only a few flavours are available in Dublin city centre
Laduree is one of, if not the biggest
macaron brand. This luxurious French company have many boutiques and tea rooms
worldwide. In Dublin this is the place where you find the biggest choice of
flavours. Their gorgeous packaging make them a perfect gift for any macaron
lover. They’re the most expensive and as they are made in France they travel all
the way here. Unfortunately we were sold
slightly stale macarons, something I didn’t expect, they lost many points because of this. Sacrebleu Laduree!
Our
verdict
Look 7/10: Pale green, misshaped in comparison to the
others, the filling didn’t look creamy and looked like it could be dry
Texture
5/10: The shell cracked nicely at first bite but
then it felt like an old and dry macaron (lost many points because of this)
Taste
8/10: Really tasted like pistachio and the flavour
was very well balance with the almond.
Value 5/10: €1.75 The most expensive and these macarons
were a bit old to be sold!
Total
25/40
We like: The pretty gift boxes
We like less: Macarons were a bit stale
This continental bakery located in Grand
Canal sells many different kinds of bread, appetising cakes and also is a café.
We salivated at the sight of many of their products but focused on their
macarons. They didn’t have much choice of flavours so we got a pistachio and a
chocolate one.
Our
verdict
Look
9/10: Small but the most perfect looking of the lot,
nice colour and the filling looked moist and the shell very smooth.
Texture
2/10: Very hard and dry shell unfortunately, dry
filling and chewy texture
Taste
3/10: Tasted
like sugar more than pistachio (the chocolate one wasn’t any better)
Value
2/10: €1.20
They looked so good and it’s such as shame they didn’t taste as good as they
looked
Total
16/40
We like: The bakery had many beautiful
breads and cakes on display
We like less: Their macarons really weren’t
that good
It’s quite surprising that food heaven
Fallon and Byrne don’t sell fresh macarons. I love the shop and usually find
everything I want but their only macarons are either frozen (not available the
day we visited) or the ones we bought: ‘Les Macarons de Pauline’. Well, I
didn’t expect much from this pack of 6 macarons, although the packaging was
cute. They aren't good, the frozen ones are better but not sold all the time.
Our
verdict
Look
9/10: Perfect shape, nice dark green. Filling
looking shiny and smooth shell
Texture
2/10: Crumbly, dry and very artificial texture
for the filling
Taste
1/10: Didn’t
taste like a good macaron, Mr. FFID couldn’t finish it, it’s a sign!
Value
0/10: €6.45 for a pack of 6. A waste of money, we couldn’t buy less than 6
and threw them away after 1!
Total
12/40
We like: The cute packaging
We like less: The macarons
Which ones have you tasted? What is your favourite place for French macarons?
*Le Petit Parisien didn't have any and Hansel and Gretel Bakery was closed (not sure if they sell any)
*Related blog entries
Paris Bakery here
Cocoa Atelier here
Armelle's Kitchen here