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Macaron fixation is gripping the city, but you’re going to have to jump the river to get our favorites, courtesy of a woman who literally wrote the book on this sweeping French dessert trend

It’s easy to wander into the ultimately bankrupt notion that all styles French are worthy of emulating (one need look no further than this year’s ombre hair coloring and French tipped nail art to be cured of francophilia perpetually), but there is one 2014 continental trend abundantly worth exploring—our now-galloping urban fascination with the macaron.

Yes, it’s difficult to pronounce accurately without sounding a little too Williamsburgy, but that’s the end of the struggle with this meringue-based confection, typically made with egg whites, icing and granulated sugars, almond powder (or ground almond) and food coloring. Essentially a tiny dessert sandwich, they are filled with anything from ganache to buttercream to fruit puree to jam. Though it thrived originally in Gallic areas, macarons, owe their lexicon identity to the Italian word maccherone, meaning Italian meringue. The culinary bible Larousse Gastronomique dates the confection’s creation to 791, and credits a convent near Cormery as the seat of authorship.

It’s also easy, in our enthusiasm, to bite into macarons in cafés throughout the city and not recognize and admit when the experience goes bad. Too much cookie, not enough filling, or excessive cookie crispiness or sweetness—all are common, and worthy of noting if we’re ever going to get to the true, good stuff.

Examples of sterling quality, at least to us, exist in particular abundance across the river (sorry everyone), especially in the hands of MacarOn Café. Started by the husband and wife team of Cecile and Arnaud Cannone in Manhattan in 2007, the brand has expanded to four locations there (two in Midtown, one in Hells Kitchen, and one in Greenwich Village), all sporting vibrant, almost kaleidoscopic décor, a cheery (often French) staff, and Cecile’s inspiring mind. (She actually wrote the book about this, literally: Macarons: Authentic French Cookie Recipes from the Macaron Café–from Ulysses Press in 2010).

Apricot, coconut, mango, chocolate passion fruit, and crème brûlée line the shelves and boxes, among many, many others, and yes, a menu diversity and improvisation is part of the draw here, but it is Cecile’s construction that stands out.

Her cookies have a terrific and delicate outer crispness, but as opposed to many macarons in which crunch permeates the whole affair, under the top layer here exists blessed softness long before the first layer of filling. Very often, there seem to be alternating layers of cookies of slightly varying crispnesses, too, and it’s difficult—as one stares indelicately at the bite just created—not to wonder how this all gets put together in such a tiny package.

Hand & Stone SPREAD

Gluten-free, kosher certified, trans-fat free, and with ingredients all sourced from American suppliers, this is about as guilt free as desserts get. The things are simply made for parties or special events, too, and the café will ship them nationwide (yes, that includes Brooklyn).

MacarOn Café
Tudor City 750 Third Ave., Manhattan / 212.983.2370
Upper East Side 625 Madison Ave., Manhattan / 212.486.2470
Chelsea 161 West 36th St., Manhattan / 212.564.3525
TriBeCa 303 Greenwich St., Manhattan / 212.343.2570
macaroncafe.com