Trusted Places Hosts French Macaron Class for London Food Bloggers

As you may remember, I have a hate-love relationship with French Macarons. I have pointed you in the direction of a recipe but I have neither made them on eggbeater nor documented the tale.

I have written an ode to Pierre Herme's macaron haute couture, patissiere genius of all he surveys, but I have never attempted to replicate his inventive sandwich cookie. I leave that to the more talented bloggers-- Joycelyn, David, Tartelette, and of course Aran.

When I was making macaron (almost 11 years ago at The French Laundry) no one knew about them, least of all my pastry chef, and we struggled to make them work, employing every trick and prayer in the book! In other words: they were a nightmare and I hoped I'd seen the last of them on my prep list forever.

Now, after Saturday's class, I don't feel that way.

Thanks to Niamh (pronounced Nee-uhV {it's Gaelic}) and Trusted Places, one week after landing in London, I was at a French Macaron class at the newly opened cooking school L'atelier des Chefs with 15 other London food bloggers!

If you can take a class here, I strongly suggest it. L'atelier des Chefs is a beautiful space for both instructor and student, and there's some great professional equipment for sale there as well.

There are dozens of opinions about how is the Most Traditional way to make macaron, but what I loved about the class was the chef worked quickly and did not dwell too much on insane details. Pastry Chefs love insane details. We're crazy. But if you want to pass on the knowledge and have them leave the class to make macaron at home, you have to make it look easy.

Flavours we accomplished:
Rose-Raspberry
Salted Caramel
Port-Foie Gras
Ginger-Lime

People who attended:

Lizzie, Su-Lin, Krista, Josh, Alice, Helen, Jonathan, Abi, Kang, Tom, Alex, Bron, Mark, and Mia.

My Flickr set of the class can be found here.

Comments

[katrina]

How exquisite! You caught the intensity of the class, as well as the beauty of those macarons...

[kayenne]

i admit to a preference for coconut macaroons than a french macaron. or is it possible that patisseries here are just not doing it right? never met one that i even like. although i might make an attempt to try making some, probably next year, when the christmas bake sale rush is over. =D

[Niamh]

Hi Shuna! Such a lovely post - I am so glad you enjoyed it so much and look forward to seeing you at future meetups. Welcome to London! :-)

[Helen Yuet Ling Pang]

Hi Shuna

It was good to have met you there! Everyone was very impressed with your background and knowledge...

[Paula Maack]

Oh my gosh, Shuna, what a great post! I am not the envious type, but I do wish I could have been there with you guys. And, what great flavors you got to make, too!

I love Pierre Herme's (and Laduree's) macarons, but have been a bit intimidated to try making them, myself. I am eager to find out how well you do with macarons, now that you have taken the class.

Cheers,

~ Paula
(from Ambrosia Quest)

[Mary]

Wowzers. These are gorgeous. I wish there was an equivalent in Toronto, I'd be all over it!

[Gemma]

I have just read a few posts about this class and it sounds great. I'll have to find out how to get myself on the list for the next time!