Life Altering

That was how french macarons were described to me before I took a trip to Paris in the winter of 2009. Hard to believe. A friend and I went searching for them at various bakeries. And finally got to the two famous pastry shops, Laduree and Pierre Herme. Oh my goodness. We ate those cookies on the street outside both shops, because we couldn't wait to get to the hotel or even a bench to sit down, to taste them. We swooned. We moaned. We wanted more. Those little cookies are amazing, and definitely life altering. They are nothing like the coconut macaroons that we know in the U.S. I decided that I had to learn how to make these. How difficult could it be? Three months after this trip and several tries baking them and I'll tell you they are not easy and they are labor intensive. But even the rejects taste good. I am not a cook by profession and have had many years of hardly cooking at all, but I like to bake and these are so good I thought it would be worth the effort.

What are they? Small meringue sandwich cookies with a creamy center. Any flavor can be added to both the cookie and the cream. Bigger is not better. There is something about the proportions with the smaller cookies that make them more delicious than the larger ones. Since returning from Paris, I have learned that they have become the new dessert craze in the U.S., replacing cupcakes. And, by the way, they are spelled with only one "o" even in English.