Knowing that Ladurée opened up in New York (the first location in North America) late last summer, I knew I had to make a stop there on this trip. Though I have been to Paris twice, it was my first time at Ladurée. Of course, for those who don't know what Ladurée is, they are a luxury French pastry house and one of the best-known makers of macarons in the world — they are widely acknowledged as having invented the macaron. The macaron seems simple to make but is difficult to perfect, and many argue that Ladurée makes some of the best macarons in the world.
They have a collaboration with Hello Kitty going on right now, but seeing as the limited edition boxes only hold eight macarons each and are something like $7 more for just the fancy box, I passed on those and just went with a regular box. There are 16 flavours available and I wanted to try all of them, but their boxes hold either 15 or 18. At $2.70 a piece, I went with the 15 instead, and decided not to get the Blackcurrant & Violet flavour (which I knew I was not going to like).
Flavours: Praline, Chocolate & Banana, Raspberry, Vanilla, Chocolate & Kalamansi, Coffee, Rose Petal, Coconut, Lemon, Caramel with Salted Butter, Cherry Blossom, Incroyable Almond, Orange Blossom, Chocolate, Pistachio
The shells have a delicate, crisp exterior with a slight chew to them, and are not too dense or airy. The cream in the centre, of which there is a generous portion in every macaron, is soft, light, and sweet, and the flavour of the macaron is perfectly represented in it. The Chocolate macaron contains a rich, decadent ganache; the Raspberry has just-tart-enough raspberry jam complete with seeds; the Caramel with Salted Butter obviously has thick, gooey caramel in the centre. In terms of quality, these are by far the best I have ever tried. My favourites?
Caramel with Salted Butter
Pistachio
Praline
Coconut
The Caramel with Salted Butter wins by a landslide as my most favourite (I am a sucker for salty-sweet mixes), with the other three all tied for second. Honourable mentions include Coffee, Incroyable Almond, Chocolate, Raspberry, and Vanilla. Ones I definitely did not like at all, not even one little bit: Orange Blossom, Cherry Blossom, Rose Petal, and Chocolate & Kalamansi. I just don't think flowers taste good, guys. The Orange Blossom was by far the worst, with the filling literally tasting like grass, and Rose Petal was probably the least offensive with just a mild rose flavour, though it really just reminded me of accidentally inhaling perfume through my mouth. The kalamansi in the Chocolate & Kalamansi was just so overwhelmingly strong, it was like an assault to my senses. Seriously, I thought my tastebuds were about to collapse.
I do, however, think that finding your favourites is part of the fun, and as this was my first ever experience with Ladurée, I was glad I got to try (almost) all of their macarons. At least, from there, I'll know which ones to get next time and which ones to leave behind. The macarons are an indulgence, but for the ones you end up loving, they are absolutely worth it.
Ladurée
864 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10021
(646) 558-3157
hahaah i love how you took the pictures after taking a bite into each macaron :p
ReplyDeletehttp://www.tseparfait.com
LOL, of course! How else would I document the insides? :P
DeleteAlso because I was sharing these with my mom, so I would bite half and then pass it to her, lol.
I'm not a huge macaron fan though it sounds right up my alley. Tried a funky one in Singapore called Korean Black Garlic and it was hilarious: heavy whiff of garlic at first that calms to a creamy finish.
ReplyDeleteThe rose sounded promising but the caramel would probably be my fave, too. I just love how pretty these are!
Maybe you haven't had a good macaron yet? I tried them at first because they were so cute and colourful, but you definitely have to try the different flavours to see which ones you like. I, for example, have realized I don't like a majority of the fruit and floral flavours. :P But a good salted caramel or praline or pistachio? Oh, god, I could eat a dozen. Each.
DeleteWas the Korean Black Garlic one any good??? Sounds super gross... but you never know, could be tasty...!
Yeah, a lot of people love the rose one because it's light and fresh and the sweetness helps mellow out the floral scent... But, I just didn't enjoy it, lol. I don't like flowers in my food, apparently. :P
Adding to my New York City list! I totally would've caved and bought a Hello Kitty box, because. It's Hello Kitty.
ReplyDeleteI have had a Ladurée macaron before, direct from Paris. Needless to say, after many hours on a plane, it wasn't the freshest but it was still lovely.
Isn't this bag charm adorable? A tiny little Ladurée bag and Hello Kitty! http://www.laduree.fr/en/secrets/produits/cadeaux_laduree
Haha, I know, I was tempted to buy the box but I just didn't think it was worth it in the end. :P I would, however, have bought that ridiculously cute bag charm, though. I didn't see any of them, though!
DeleteGo to Laduree on a NYC trip for fresh macarons. :) Such a big difference!