I'm no macaron connoisseur. Brownies, yes. Macarons, no. To be honest, they are not something that I have ever really felt a deep seated desire for when I'm craving some serious sugar. I'm more of a gigantic slice of cake or a fat brownie than a dainty macaron. Hey, I'm Irish and grew up with a grandmother who believed in doorstep slices of cake, always ate creamy Irish butter, loved her meat and potatoes and lived to be 92. That says something to me. I can't imagine what she would have thought of me putting a bright green macaron in front of her for dessert. She probably would have given a hearty laugh and told me to take it away as that possibly could never be described as a dessert. Yes, her hearty ways are deep in my veins. Hence, I have never inclined towards the dainty macaron simply because I would feel like I needed to eat a dozen of them in order to feel like I'd actually had a regular dessert helping. Me chomping down 12 macarons surely cannot be an attractive sight. However, for some reason while in Lippo Kemang mall, I happened to pass a small booth that had what can only be described as a rainbow of macarons on display. They looked so pretty and so inviting and they seemed to be calling out to me to give them a chance and indulge (yes, food speaks to me - other people are dog whisperers, horse whisperers, I was given the gift of being a food whisperer, the food tells me when it wants to be eaten, it's a terrible burden, really!) So I bought a box of 10 for 100,000. Not cheap. One tiny macaron = 10,000 meaning 4 would be 40,000 and for 40,000 somewhere else I could get a big slice of cake. There was a range of flavours but I opted for Baileys, peanut butter, coconut, red velvet and Oreo. I'm not big into fruity flavours. If I want something that tastes like a banana I will just eat a banana. That's just me. It applies to almost all fruit except lemon and lime, for obvious reasons. Lemon desserts are some of my favourites. So I took home my little box of not so multi-coloured dainty discs and gave them the taste test. Flavours were good and strong. They all tasted the way they should except maybe the Oreo, which I found a bit bland. My favourite was the Baileys, followed by the red velvet, then peanut butter, coconut and finally Oreo. The consistency is still weird for me. There is the crunch on the outside and the softness in the middle which although interesting cannot compare to a beautifully made sponge cake. Will I go back for more? Yes perhaps next time I am there I will break out of the comfort zone and try some fruity flavours. However, nothing compares to a large slice of cake or a fat brownie...
Pretty packaging...
Peanut Butter, Red Velvet, Baileys, Coconut and Oreo
