Get Highly Rated Recipes Here: Vanilla Buttercream | Keto Macarons | Vegan Macarons

Dainty. Sweet. Elegant. Pretty. Luxurious. Macarons are all of those things. Macarons, also known as French macarons, are little sandwich cookies made with almond flour, egg whites and lots of icing sugar. And in between the cookies you can have a variety of delicious fillings – you can have green tea macarons with chocolate ganache filling, good old vanilla macarons with classic buttercream or even exotic mango macarons with passion fruit jam. Not to sound cliché, but really, the possibilities are endless. Macarons are unbelievably pricey, but they are totally worth it! (Well… depending on who you ask).

“[L]iking macarons isn’t really about baked goods. They’re a social signifier, like a Hermes bag or a Louboutin pump.“

Maura Judkis, Writer (Source: ventured.com)

Despite the widespread popularity, it seems like nobody can say for sure where macarons originally came from. Some sources indicate that macarons first made their debut to the wider world in the 1500s, through the court of Queen Catherine de Medici who brought the recipe from Italy to France when she married French monarch, King Henry II. Others point to two French nuns in the 18^th century who baked and sold macaron cookies to support themselves. Some even associate the origins of macarons to Andalusia in present day southern Spain, where variants of Almond based cookies are believed to have originated from.

The last ten years have seen macarons become quite a trend and this is partly thanks to the rising fames of cooking shows like MasterChef and Zumbo’s Just Desserts. The status of macarons has reached such a height that we have Macaron Day. A brainchild of French chef Pierre Hermé, Macaron Day or Jour du Macaron was first introduced in mid-2000s and is celebrated on 20^th March every year. Coincidentally, 20^th March also happens to be the International Day of Happiness as decreed by the UN General Assembly in 2013. But is it really a coincidence? Who knows.

Even more interestingly, with the world moving towards a health-conscious lifestyle, businesses are coming up with plant-based macarons for vegan diet and less-sugar alternatives using monk fruit sweeteners. That’s the reason why macarons are so popular – their versatility. And if you’re up for something different, you can try the Marie Antoinette (a vegan option at Ladurée, which is basically black tea with notes of citrus and rose), or one of the tea varieties from TWG (go for the Napolean Tea & Caramel for something extra sweet!).

“A good macaron is the successful sum of many small details. It’s a simple thing, and yet you need to have high-quality almonds, to respect the resting times and drying times… you really need to respect everything about the process.“

Pierre Hermé, Chef (Source: huffpost.com)

So, what’s the outlook for macarons? Once dubbed “the new cupcake”, is the macaron craze just a hype that’s going to die down once the next new thing comes up? It doesn’t look like it. According to a study by Future Market Insights, the US macaron market is projected to grow from USD 1.5 billion in 2023 to around USD 3 billion in 2033. Well, that’s a rather colourful future!