M for Macarons: Ladurée

August 9, 2010 at 11:25 am | Posted in The M Project | 3 Comments
Tags: French macaron, Ladurée, Macaron review, Paris macaron, The M Project

I squealed in delight when I saw the Ladurée store sign in Milan. It was by accident and boy am I glad that I was so observant that day.

My French colleague once shared with me his fond memories of having Ladurée macarons when he was a child. He said macarons are available at different parts of the world but none tasted as good and as authentic as Ladurée. Well, I may not be at the original store at Avenue des Champs-Elysées in Paris but having a bite of Ladurée in Milan was close enough.

Unlike the Ladurée cafe in Tokyo, the Ladurée shop in Milan was just a retail outlet. It was no less a heaven for macaron fanatics! You can pick and choose the type of box you would like to pack the macarons in with an additional cost.

In a totally unglamorous manner, I savoured my macarons in the street of Milan.

Each macaron cost 1.60 Euro (about S$2.90). All of them had very smooth shell and lovely colours.  I tried the Rose and Vanilla macarons.

The Rose macaron was very light with a delicate floral taste in the butter cream ganache. The shell was crumbly at first bite, with an airy and chewy texture at the after bite. It was heavenly that I wanted to reach out for more.

The Vanilla macaron had the same magical light but chewy shell. But what I really love about the macaron was its ganache which was made from vanilla bean. It was sweet, fragrant and a bit heavier than the Rose macaron. But I think this was probably one of the best vanilla macarons that I have ever tasted!

Verdict:

Undoubtedly, no bakery in Singapore can match the high standard of Ladurée. However, if you were to ask me to compare between Pierre Hermé and this, I can’t quite decide now. I could probably make a fairer judgment if I were to try both brands back-to-back.

Miss Glitzy: (Ok, it’s off the charts!)

Read the rest of my macaron reviews here!