Dish of the Week
Macarons at Michel Patisserie

That’s macarons with one ‘o’, not two. The one with two o’s is made with coconut and tends to be a heavy haystack of coconut and sugar. While delicious, it has nothing to do with the delicate French macaron. The French macaron is a bit like a fancy Oreo, with meringue-like cookies made from almond flour and a delicious filling. They’re definitely not easy to make well – it’s difficult to create the fineness of the almond flour and the texture of the cookie just right. And there is definitely an optimal filling to cookie ratio, falling somewhere between 1:1 to 1:2. No one likes a stingy hand with the filling. Why else would they make double-stuffed Oreos?

That’s where Michel Patisserie comes in. With their finely ground almond flour and delicious fillings, these make a great little cookie for an after-dinner coffee. My personal favorite is the passion fruit, with its bright flavor and semi-sweet filling. Other favorites include the sprightly orange, slightly burnt fleur-de-sel caramel, French vanilla, pistachio, bitter chocolate and… well… it’s hard to go wrong with any of them.

You can order from their website and pay to have them couriered to you, or you can pick them up from Artisan Confections in Arlington. If this has you jonesing for a macaron fix in the District, you can get them at Patisserie Poupon. But after you have the ones from Michel Patisserie, it’s hard to go back.

Image courtesy Michel Patisserie