Thursday, November 27, 2008

Answers to my macarons' questions

Was really tempted to eat macarons after Yuan sms-ed me about 2 fantastic macarons yesterday. Thus, I did a net search for good macarons, particularly those we have missed on our blog on it but alas, I have only come across Corduroy & Finch, The Caffebar @ Marine Parade and Choupinette. Of course, there will be a group that are still undiscovered so I will try my luck by popping into any random hotels' bakeries or pâtisserie.

Anyway, after reading other people's comments on the macarons found in Singapore, I have gotten macarons from 3 places in Singapore.

Make a guess, where have I gotten these from?

Starting from the top, Rose and Raspberry from Carousel ($1.80, excluding 7% GST), Rose from Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie ($2.30, excluding 7% GST) and the last two (Strawberry and Raspberry) were from Amande ($1.20 nett each).

Macarons from these 3 places have always been nice or above average but to eat it back to back, the difference is pretty distinct. I had Amande's macaron first and its uniqueness lies in its filling. It has two thin layers of filling, a sourish gelee and a lightly flavoured
ganache. Macaron shells are chewy enough but its appearance is alittle inconsistent.

Next, I took Carousel's and it is clearly not as sweet as Amande. As Evan has pointed out, it is just flavoured whipped cream. The edges of the macaron shells are the smoothest of the entire lot.

Finally, I ate Canele's and wow, its bursting rose flavour and its chewy shells makes it the best among the entire lot and my ranking was exactly the same as mummy's (1st - Canele, 2nd - Carousel, 3rd - Amande). In term of sweetness, it seems to be in the order I eat, with Amande the sweetest and Canele, being the least sweet one.

However, when I eat it the next day (I bought Pistachio and Rose & Raspberry from Carousel, Pistache and Rose from Canelé, 4 macarons from Amande and a Rose Isaphan from Mezza9), Carousel's
Pistachio and Amande's macarons aren't that bad after all. So, critics are never accurate as tasting depends strongly on mood and our tongue are constantly making comparisons from our previous eats.

Also, this is a shocker, you wouldn't imagine its price? So I am keen to hear how much this is worth in your opinion.

This baby costs me $18 (excluding 7% GST) and is only the size of my palm!!! From mezza9, Grand Hyatt Singapore and they do sell macarons with 3 flavours, passionfruit with buttercream, chocolate and rose. Each macaron costs $3.00, $10 for 3 pieces and $18 for 6 pieces BUT they look funny, like mini coloured rock buns.

This is not worth the money. The shells are crunchy with an extremely rough texture of ganache but I am not sure if this is included in Mezza9 buffet since it was not placed together with cakes and pastries.

By the way, I am happy to spot Evan's bakes under "Where to Find Macarons?"

Readers, I'm sorry for the lack of entries this week. I have been busy at work and not really in the mood these few days, I will need some time before I pen down a proper entry. Meanwhile, I will continue with replying comments.

23 comments:

bossacafez said...

haha you found me on seriouseats :p

cannot guess how much the ispahan is, either must be damn cheap, or expensive lor. so i'll guess between $2 to $10. muahaha!

aiyo pls don't apologize for the lack of updates (which is not exactly lacking anyway). when u make it an obligation to blog, then its quite tiring for u oso. plus your write-ups are so comprehensive, ppl can just go back n read the previous posts which will keep them well occupied until the nx one.

take care girl, miss chatting with u!

Fen said...

Not so much about feeling obligated to blog but felt very empty these days. Usually, I do feel happy after I have posted an entry as it means two things, I have gain my sugar satisfaction and second I am happy to see the pictures....

I missed meeting up with you too, hopefully, my work runs smoothly today, was thinking of taking a day off next Tues, maybe we can drop by Nectarie with Brad and others...

Hehe, you are wrong on the isaphan, it is not even within the range... *Gasp*

Any idea where I have purchase the macarons and isaphan from? I am more curious about that answer...

bossacafez said...

wah you're early haha. still at home or oredi reached office? =)

oh yes nectarie, i wanna check out the place. the ambience looks really nice and i havent been to clarke quay for a long time. can drop by meidi-ya @ liang court after that too hehe.

seriously i'm bad at guessing coz i really dunno the places selling macarons, besides the few usual ones. haha, so i'll give guessing where u bought them a miss, unless u wanna drop drop more hints! as for the ispahan, not even within that range?? ok lor, then i'm guessing $1 or $11 onwards heheeee.

Fen said...

Lol, I am the office...

Hopefully, by afternoon I will let u know if I am going Nectarie next Tuesday then...

Hmm... Hints will be a give-away as there isn't much places that sells macarons... So the only hint I will give is that I have blogged about their macarons before... :D

By the way, from the professional macaron baker, which one looks the yummiest?

red fir said...

Carousel?

Fen said...

Yup, that's one... any idea which one is it? The top, middle or bottom or the isaphan :)

bossacafez said...

wah that's a tough one, how can anyone judge based on the looks of it? i'm not that pro to guess which is the yummiest lah, but from the pic, the one that LEAST appeals to me is the 1st one, coz a peep at the cream gives me an impression its whipped cream haha!

so far i only know these places sell macarons - canele, bakerzin, obolo, gobi, twelve+one, amande, choupinette. oh ok, maybe centre P's?? don't tell me must include those buffet places that serve macarons too hor...

sigh, craving for breadtalk's macha swiss roll again (more like all the time). need to make a trip to breadtalk later haha.

Fen said...

Lol, interesting choice, I thought the least appealing one is the bottom ones (3rd and 4th from top) since the shape is pretty off...

No lah, no buffet places are included, I just walked in and picked them up.

I think you have listed almost all the places already... maybe I should drop by choupinette some time later >.<

BreadTalk's swiss rolls, the sliced ones or the entire roll from BreadTalk Silver, guess it is the latter, right?

Anonymous said...

hahaha yeah i agree with evan, its either damn cheap or expensive. i'm guessing its damn cheap. haha.

Jin said...

I think it's damn cheap. $1. It looks a bit too unrefined to be very expensive... Unless this is a trick question and you made it yourself!

bossacafez said...

i KNEW it wouldn't be damn cheap, so its damn expensive!!! omg, and 18 bucks??? totally unbelievable. plus the fact that its not worth the price, then its worst.

i suddenly recalled a place that sells macarons also, da paolo @ chip bee gdns, holland v. they're selling 3 for $10 for just chocolate macarons and they don't look good. if u ever get to try in the future, let me know if its nice haha.

bossacafez said...

btw dear girl, when's our nectarie outing gonna be? i can't wait!!!!! its 1/2 price off their cakes on weekdays afternoons rite? :D im thinking their ambience must b really nice, esp when there's not so many ppl around.

let me know ya ;)

Fen said...

LIC and Hejin: I don't think it is cheap in this case... Check out my updated entry on this one.

Evan: I saw the macarons at Da Paolo but chocolate macarons usually don't appeal to me and Yuan as the chocolate taste is too overpowering for macarons...

As for Nectarie, I can only enjoy the 1/2 price discount if I take leave... I was debating between this coming Tuesday or Friday... Anyway idea will Brad, Vicki or Sihan will be free?

bossacafez said...

seriously, its difficult to get everyone together, thats the thing. one will be free but another isn't... for myself, i'm ok on both days but on tues evenings i hv korean class at 7pm, park mall. so i think its definitely better on tues so i can go straight to my class after that, don't hv to make two trips to town :p if they not free, we go ourselves lor hehehe.

Fen said...

Hmm... How about checking with others for Friday? I would prefer Friday as it won't delay my existing work that much... Moreover, there is a small chance that my boss won't approve Tuesday since my lab kaki will be away from Wednesday onwards... Will Friday cause inconvenience for you?

bossacafez said...

its abit inconvenient lor, coz that will mean i'll go town 3 times that week - tues for my class, fri for nectarie, and sat for brad's outing! but of coz your work is more impt.

Anonymous said...

i got poor judgement. hehe. okay i must wait and see where this expensive macaron come from!

so confirm tue? fen u managed to take off? but really, taking off to go eat dessert a bit extreme. haha. but how come you got so many days off left man.

and yeah, not easy to get everybody together, somemore on a weekday afternoon. Luckily i tue happened to have off. haha

Fen said...

LIC: You never read my post closely wor... *打屁股* That Isaphan is from Mezza9 (Shocking right, their cakes are so reasonably priced)...

As for Tues, can I get back to you tom? I need to settle my work first... If boss don't approve, then you guys go ahead, it is hard to get everybody down...

So many leave left? I am very hardworking one... work work work until last min then need to know I got to clear so many days... *Grasp!!!*

Anonymous said...

oh! how come i missed the $18 from mezza9? did you just add it in or something? haha. maybe my eyes were playing tricks one me, somemore you bold the price. gosh so pai seh. haha. but then again, its 18 for 3 la, i thought one macaron 18 bucks. haha

Fen said...

Hmm... I added the "answers" yesterday :D

Anyway, the Isaphan you see in the photo costs $18 each... Mezza9 also have individual macarons which costs $3 per piece, $10 for 3 pieces and $18 for 6 pieces.

All prices above are subjected to additional 7% GST.

red fir said...

fen: I think the Ispahan at Mezza9 has a Pierre Herme tagged to it. I'm thinking it's Hyatt's way of marketing this macaron as this dessert was featured in his dessert repertoire when he was here in April. It costs about the same or slightly more I can't remember. I had it and it was super delicious! But of coz that was genuine Pierre Herme's signature Ispahan. Sigh.

Fen said...

Ice: I was expecting it to be good but the shells were so crunchy (not chewy like other macarons) or is it meant it to be like that?

Actually, apart from the extremely crunchy shells, I find it quite nice...

It does look alittle like the one on your blog but I am not sure (By the way, I enjoy reading your "One Night Stand with Pierre Herme - the Dior of Desserts", read it a couple of times).

Anyway, to spend >$18 on 1 dessert, my pocket sure feels the pinch.

red fir said...

fen: The surface of the shells here look very uneven, haha nothing like Pierre Herme's. =) Not sure the taste coz I haven't tried, but the tacky rose petal sure reminds me of PH's. Sigh.

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