After a stroke of inspiration back in October, I set away planning a Christmas Macaron Party for while I would be back in the states for the Holidays – a great way to bring 10 of my closest friends together and sharing a little of what I love about France short of bringing Pierre Herme himself home with me. During the summer I had taken a macaron class with La Cuisine Paris and call it ambitious or naive, I felt confident I had the information needed to host a similar event chez moi.
After weeks of planning over the phone with my mom, I was finally home on a Friday afternoon. Despite the jet-lag, we set out preparing for the party. All day Saturday was spent cooking delicious treats for lunch and setting up the hot chocolate bar. I had woken up at 4:30 that morning and headed straight for the kitchen excited to try my hand at homemade marshmallows while my family must have thought I’d left a few marbles in Paris…
Exhausted as we were, Sunday we woke (at 6am this time) ready to add the final touches and begin sifting the tant-pour-tant I’d brought from G. Detou in Paris for the macaron batter. Elizabeth, a friend who also happens to be a pastry chef, came dressed in her chef jacket ready to help guide us (some of who I wasn’t sure had even heard of French macarons) through the technical process of this little magical cookie. The guests began arriving in the afternoon, including fellow-blogger and friend Jessica. Soon we were dressed in aprons and preparing the batters while Christmas music played in the background.
The biggest difference between La Cuisine Paris and my event came down to the difference between “Macaron Class” and “Macaron Party.” By the third batch of boiling sugar syrup we were having a bit too much fun laughing to realize our meringue had escalated from soft peak to overflowing, which for those who have attempted these cookies before will tell you this means the sky is due to fall. It didn’t matter though – it was just fun to have everyone together.
Each guest went home with their own box of homemade Christmas macarons filled with peppermint white chocolate ganache and dark chocolate ganache from Pierre Herme’s macaron book. They admitably weren’t the prettiest but it was a party. In case we are not macaroned-out before I return to Paris, my mom and I hope to make another batch on our own to see how far we’ve come along.
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What a lovely party and the hot chocolate bar sounds like a lovely touch!
Hope you have a great time in the US with family and friends.
Happy Holidays!
Thanks Murissa! We had so such a good time and it was a great way to bring everyone together for the Holidays!
Those look lovely! What a fun way to bring a bit of your French life home
Were you able to get any special ingredients (aren’t they made with almond flour or something?) in the US, or did you need to bring it back from France?
I ended up bringing many of the ingredients from France but only because our schedule was so tight between my arrival and the party. You can find many of the ingredients at just about any grocery store and especially any specialty kitchen store or professional chef store. The hardest thing to find in my opinion is the powdered food dyes. If you hope to make macarons any time soon, you might want to order them online now. I thought I’d ordered the right ones from Amazon but it turned out they were gels which is why the colors on these macarons are not very bold. Best of luck!
I love the polka dot cup and saucer in the background! Where from?
This post is awesome! I am looking into different cooking classes when I am here and may totally steal this idea for when I get home!! Adorable!