Nofrodelius and I were at it again – two girls on a mission: 16 macarons from 4 different bakeries. This time we were going to finish all of the desserts, unlike our cupcake crawl. This time the bites were smaller, but no less colorful and bursting with fall flavors and Parisian charm. Ah Paris on a rainy Sunday, settled into the bar of a tiny buzzing coffee shop called Slate Coffee; je suis amoureuse! We went to Lady Yum in Kirkland, Bakery Nouveau in Capital Hill, Belle Epicurean in Madison, and Honore Bakery in Ballard as they were relatively close in proximity to each other.
They have the most inventive flavors and are generally my go to macaron shop. They had a pretty good shell with lots of chew and is still one of my favorite shops.
Tiger’s tail – originally a Twinkie with swirl of strawberry jam and coconut, so while this had no strawberry flavor, it looked the part and had the requisite coconut flakes that made it a fun treat
Toffee tent – the turquoise of the shell is the same color as the toffee brand, tasted as advertised with plenty of salt and toffee brickles; I mostly loved the color
bear claw – just the pastry, had an overwhelming flavor of almonds and the prettiest gold smudge on the rose shell that convinced me to choose it; fact – I don’t care for almond flavored desserts, but I also can’t pass up a beautiful macaron
raspberry lime – raspberry with lime sugar crystals, a nice sophisticated flavor that didn’t have much tartness to it
Bakery Nouveau – for an award winning French bakery, I have rather high expectations for their desserts. They overbaked the macaron shells as they shattered when you bit them and had very little chew, but the flavors shone through brightly which is probably the most important part of the macaron.
cassis – black current, tart, but not too tart
pumpkin – tasted just like pumpkin pie filling
passion fruit – tangy and reminded me of Hawaii
Belle Epicurean – the largest macarons of the bunch with the most filling, a heady buttercream that oozed with each bite. They were lighter in flavor, but the macaron shell was textbook.
honey – I didn’t quite get any particular flavor from this one
lavender – also, very light in flavor
snickerdoodle – tasted exactly like a snickerdoodles with hints of cinnamon and even had the texture of a soft sugar cookie in the shell
maple bacon – bits of maple bacon tucked into the buttercream, they were a surprise if you weren’t ready for a explosion of salt; interesting, but I think I’d put this flavor in the same category as bacon cupcakes – good for people who like salty sweet things
Honore Bakery – this used to be my favorite macaron place, but it looks like they switched chefs. The macarons were half the size they used to be and lacking in flavor, sadly. This was probably my least favorite macarons, but they do get bonus points for black sesame. These macarons carry their flavor in the filling. They were also almost under-baked with a lot of moisture in the shell. They were the most electrically colored of the bunch and reminded me of primary color swatches.
Lemon – as advertised, extremely tart
raspberry chocolate – the chocolate tasted grainy, but the tartness of the raspberry was there.
Coffee – this didn’t quite taste like coffee, it tasted more like hazelnut as it had none of the bitterness of coffee, or maybe it was because we were sipping some amazing pour over and any coffee flavor paled in comparison
black sesame – I was excited to try this exotic flavor as I love black sesame filling in Chinese desserts, and this one definitely had the flavor.
deconstructed latte – a shot of espresso, steamed milk, and an actual latte so you can taste eat of the ingredients that goes into the final product and mix to your desires. The espresso shot was extremely acidic, but it wasn’t bitter at all, which was surprising. The steamed milk is closer to cream without the density of cream. And the latte, heaven, no sugar necessary. In fact, I think I want to make all my lattes in port glasses.
cold brew – brewed in a pour over for 30 minutes while we watched and waited; it was worth the wait.
Nofrodelius and I had so much sugar and caffeine that our hands were shaking by the time we walked out of the coffee shop, but we did what we came to do and ate all 16 macarons. A few people stopped our spot at the bar and asked us where we got our macarons – I think the colors and the cuteness are irresistible. Of course, the ultimate question is, which one was the best marcaron? In order of macaron shops:
- Lady Yum – these had the best consistency in texture and the strongest flavors; I loved the colors and the inventive flavors
- Belle Epicurean – also had great consistency in the chewiness of the marcaron shell with lots of butter cream filling; each bite was filled with a hearty heavenly puff of butter cream, but the macarons don’t taste that different from each other
- Bakery Nouveau – overbaked shells that shattered when you bit into them, though the flavors were intense and as advertised
- Honore Bakery – they used to make such great macarons, I’m not sure what happened… They’re only about an inch in diameter and the filling was a little bit gummy and gritty. I don’t know that I’d even recommend their macarons, but their kougin aman and pain aux chocolat are still amazing
As for my favorite flavors:
- Raspberry lime (Lady Yum)
- Passion fruit (Bakery Nouveau)
- Bear Claw (Lady Yum)
- Pumpkin (Bakery Nouveau)
Keep in mind that everyone will have their own favorites for flavors and I tend to lean toward pumpkin, raspberry, passion fruit, and lavender, so I’m a little biased. We had so much fun sampling the macarons, driving around town and picking out flavors, and just chatting on a rainy day over great coffee and . I’m so grateful that Nofrodelius reached out to me – she’s the perfect partner for a macaron crawl and the sweetest partner in crime. So for you readers out there, call up your BFF and do something just a little extraordinary and watch the world brighten. That’s what friends are for after all.