Strawberry Macarons

The first time I bit into a macaron happened to be in the Paris airport, from the Laudree bakery. It might sound glamorous, but it did not feel like that after spending almost an entire day in an airport. It was the summer of 2011 and we had missed out connecting flight from Paris to Montreal. Thus, we spent the night in Paris in a not so glamorous hotel [because it was free] - but hey, it's still Paris! The next morning, out flight was scheduled to leave at 10am, but I guess the airline thought a few more delays wouldn't hurt us... so we continued to get delayed until 8pm. I do not think I have ever been any more jet lagged in my life.

But since I'm not here to ramble about airport drama that my family of 6 seems to always experience, let's get back to more important [and delicious] things - strawberry macarons!

This was the first attempt at making macarons. I was quite surprised with the outcome, because I've heard many horror stories about macaron attempts. I'll admit, they do take a bit of patience to make, but the end result of a soft, pillowy shell with a silky interior, making the meringue the perfect sandwich cookie. It's easy to add different flavors, but today I'll stick with the strawberry variety! Perfect for Valetine's Day!

I added a dollop of pureed strawberries into the middle of one shell, then piped the strawberry filling around the outside of the shell and it was the perfect combination of strawberry flavor sandwiched together.

Q: Which macaron flavors have you tried? If you have never tried a macaron before, which flavor would like to try? Salted caramel is my absolute favorite!

original recipe here // original strawberry filling here