There is definitely a trend of flavors that varies from here in Vancouver and in Paris, France.  I personally find that Vancouverites are not as adventurous as Parisians. I mean, when Pierre Herme comes out with Yogurt flavored macarons, Parisians and tourists are all eager to try them ( I got suckered into the novelty, but I give them "thumbs-down", very sour tasting).

With J'adore les Macarons, my wildest flavor combination for French Macarons would be my Chai Maple Bacon Salted Caramel French Macaron.  This gets the attention of all the guys while incorporating all my favorite flavors.  I once created Curry dusted Coconut Milk filling with Pineapple Jam (lugged back from my trip to Hawaii), but customers were hesitant.  The fragrant curry complimented the taste of the almond shell very well, in my humble opinion.  What's your favorite flavor and what's the craziest flavor of macarons have you tried?

What do you think of the flavors that emulate American desserts like red velvet, s'mores, chocolate chip oatmeal, chocolate mint, orange creamsicle, lemon meringue pie, peanut butter and jam?  FYI, these are normally flavored by using artificial extracts that are made in a lab, created to taste like a particular type of food.  If I wanted to eat a red velvet cake, then I would go for it whole-heartedly...but in a French Macaron, I like to taste pure and natural flavors. 

Do you ever dream about living somewhere...far, far away...in a romantic city like Paris?  Yep, me too.  

Read about The Sweet Life in Paris, by David Lebovitz a pastry chef from America who did just that. 

This is an fun & easy read while you are dreaming about Paris or if you intend to visit Paris in the near future. The author gives you a lot of insight about why the French are the way they are in terms of culture, habits and rituals.  He even gives you the inside scoop on how to deal with people who like to "jump the queue" at the boulangerie or the butcher shop.  Tucked in between his engaging stories are simple recipes that tempt your taste buds too.

I was excited to get an order for Purple and Lilac colored macarons for a wedding that was taking place at Newlands Golf Course in Langley, BC.  The bride requested milk chocolate filling so I made a delicious chocolate ganache filling from the finest French Valrhona chocolate.

I had decided to deliver them since my macarons are like babies to me...and as the Mama, I just couldn't leave this task to just anyone!   In my humble opinion, French macarons are as delicate or even more so that a wedding cake. I had no idea that it would take exactly one hour to get there, one hour to package them and one hour to come back.

First road block....rubbermaid contatiners filled with all the lovely macarons, don't fit into the big Coleman picnic cooler....had to drive to Mom's house to get another cooler.

I had asked my Dad to be my chauffeur since I'm not familiar with driving out to Langley. 

The biggest question is:  Is it more stressful to drive by myself and take a few wrong turns?  Or it is more stressful to sit in my Dad's brand new car and spend a few hours of quality time with him??

I chose the latter since it was my Dad's birthday the next day and I felt it was my daughterly duty to spend some time with him.


We got there in exactly ONE hour as predicted by Google maps and took only one wrong turn.

It was great to have my Dad there since he helped me staple the place cards onto the cello bags, while I gingerly put 2 macarons into the bags with White glove service, of course.
While we were doing this, the ballroom was quickly being dressed for the wedding reception...Upon my arrival and at first glance I was disapointed at what the ballroom looked like, but as I peeked in one hour later, it looked like Cinderella who had changed from her rag dress into a beautiful ballgown.  I was impressed.

Normally I'm not a huge fan of white chair covers...but it really set the ambiance for a very classy wedding reception.
Here's a few shots of the completed macaron wedding favours:I was thrilled to be able to provide the macaron wedding favors for the beautiful bride Mona and her husband Andrew.  I hope all the guests enjoyed eating them as much a I enjoyed baking them. Wishing them much happiness in their new lives together.