Move over cupcakes and make way for macarons. These delicate bite-size egg white-sugar-and almond petits fours have already taken over Paris, and are now doing do so in Australia.

Macaron Queen

Crisp and shiny on the outside, smooth and soft in the middle, they are the divas of the biscuit world:  fickle, fiddly and fabulous.
In Paris, people queue for them outside Laduree, the famous Parisienne tea salon, and at Pierre Herme (who has become famous for his exotic flavours such as 25-year old balsamic vinegar, black truffle, and foie gras).
Macarons (pronounced ‘ma-kuh-rons’) come in three sizes: tiny 2-3 cm (often restaurant petit fours), small 3-5 cm (most popular, also referred to as gerbers), and large/standard 5-8 cm.
In Sydney, over 8000 macarons a week walk out the door at La Renaissance, a French patisserie in Argyle Street in The Rocks.  Last year, one client alone ordered 30,000 for a 30th birthday celebration.
Introduced to France by Catherine de Medici in 1533 at the time of her marriage to the Duc d’Orleans, the term “macaron” has the same origin as that the word “macaroni”, meaning “fine dough”.Many towns throughout France have their own tale surrounding this prized delicacy. In Nancy, the granddaughter of Catherine de Medici was supposedly saved from starvation by eating macarons. In Saint-Jean-de-Luz, the macaron of Chef Adam regaled Louis XIV and Marie-Therese at their wedding celebration in 1660.
But it wasn’t until the beginning of the 20th century that the macaron took off. That was when Pierre Desfontaines, the grandson of Louis Ernest Laduree (Laduree pastry, rue Royale in Paris), had the idea to turn them into a double decker affair and fill the middle with a chocolate ganache. Since then,French patissiers such as Laduree and Pierre Herme have risen to cult status all over the world thanks to the amazing array of colours and flavours they have introduced.French macarons have become the darlings of tea salons and are sought after as the perfect gift for Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. Children also adore them.
You might have seen them on MasterChef (Channel 10) or  Poh’s Kitchen (ABC TV) , but you’ll learn even more by attending the Macaron Master classes run by Jean Michel Raynaud, executive chef at La Renaissance and Baroque.
He’s been making them for 30 years and is an expert at all the little tricks (eg. using day-old egg whites, and how to achieve the right consistency when beating them into the almond/icing sugar mix). Although small and relatively simple looking, macarons are one of the more complex products to make in the pastry profession with so many variables which can effect the eventual outcome. I learnt a lot from him at the class – and now it’s going to take lots of practice to perfect them!
Baroque Bistro Bar Patisserie
88 George Street (Cnr Hickson Road), The Rocks, Sydney, NSW 2000 | p. (02) 9241 4811 | f. (02) 9241 4812
For bookings: Ph. (02) 9241 4811
Dates – Every Sunday from June 13th to November 14th, 2010
Times – 9am to around 2.30pm
Capacity – Maximum 12 people per class, per week.
Cost – $220 per person (gst inc)

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