Food Review: Macaron Café Macarons

I absolutely love macarons; I’ve posted a few recipes that I have tried on this blog. Additionally, I like to try macarons from various stores to see how they compare. My mother also knows this so for Valentine’s day she sent me a pack of six from Macaron Café which ships across the US and also have stores in New York. The flavors she got me are:

Rose Lychee x2- very good, the fruit allows the rose to no be overpowering

Cassis- a light blackcurrant flavor. I would have preferred it a bit stronger, but was nice and tangy

Crème Brule- a vanilla custard flavor with bits of sugar or the sides which is a nice touch

Honey Lavender- not enough honey, too much lavender. I really like lavender (the best ice cream I’ve ever eaten was lavender, but this actually tasted like perfume. It was way too strong. (now I sound like my mother)

Earl Grey- If I had tasted this alone I wouldn’t have though “Earl Grey” immediately. It’s hard to describe, but there are defiantly hints of  tea and citrus, just light hints.

I’d say the cookies are a little bit larger than average and hat feet and mostly smooth tops (a few had dimples). My real confusion in the texture. The first day I had a rose one and it was dry and chewy, so I assumed it just was “too fresh” since macarons should sit from 24-48 hours before eating. The second day I had half of the cassis and it was better; moister. The third day I had the second half of the cassis and is was perfectly moist and soft. The next day I had the crème brulee and it was hard like the first one! Same with the lavender and especially the Earl grey! I even let them sit up to room temperature like advised. I don’t know if being so cold for so long (they shipped with a still frozen freeze pack) made them permanently too hard/chewy?

too hard

perfectly moist

Overall, they were still good, but I think maybe the shipping harmed them in some way because I cannot imagine a bakery with four stores in New York selling hard cookies.