Ladurée(!)

~The macaron adventures continue. Last time, we talked about Bouchon Bakery (more here). Why did I choose Bouchon? Well, it's owned by the famous Thomas Keller. But now, let's move on to the crème de la crème!~

No, I didn't go to Paris. I went to New York City! And, I got to visit the very, very famous Ladurée! And do forgive me, I was so giddy with excitement, I forgot to take pictures 

of the store! The store was amazing. It was filled with macarons of every single flavor

imaginable! It even smelled good too. I wish Ladurée would sell air fresheners that would make 

your house smell just like their store. I think I would buy some, er, a lot. 

Let's take a look at the box, shall we?

Here's the boring angle.

Now here's the cool angle.

The box looks yummy, doesn't it? Just look at the metallic embellishments on the prettiest pale green color ever!

See the detail?

Isn't it breathtaking? 

Okay. Enough pictures of the box. Let's move on to its contents.

~From left to right: vanilla, orange blossom, black currant violet, milk chocolate, rose, cherry blossom~

In case you are interested in how expensive these were, these six macarons costed twenty dollars (!). I've heard that if you forgo the box (who would?), it's slightly cheaper.

They are pricey, but well worth it. I don't know how they make them. I've made macarons three or four times, and only one batch came out satisfactory. The way I'm justifying this expense is that if I keep on attempting homemade macarons and botching them, I'm going to be wasting money on almond flour (super expensive) and other ingredients which will later end up in the trash, rather than spending money on perfect macarons. Besides, I'll keep the box forever. I'll treasure the box. Actually, scratch the last sentence. I'm just going to keep the box in my room, which is already filled with junk. So blatantly, this box will be an addition to my large junk collection that I refuse to throw out.

The cherry blossom one tastes delish. I know this sounds horrible, but it tastes exactly how cherry blossom shampoo should taste like. Notice how I said how shampoo should taste like, not what it tastes like. Anybody who's accidentally tasted some shampoo water while taking a shower will tell you it tastes like blech. But the macaron actually tastes good. And for the orange blossom one, it tastes exactly how an orange tastes like, but with a floral hint to it. It's ah-mazing. 

I've also ate the blackcurrant violet one. I thought it was the best of them all. The filling was a jam/preserve type filling, with some small seeds inside. The filling was tart, so it balanced out the (in my opinion) overly sweet cookie.

And about the milk chocolate one, it tasted like chocolate, but with milk! 

And the rose tastes like a rose too. 

And the vanilla tastes like... Okay, you guys get the point. The macarons really live up to their name. It tastes exactly like the flavor they taste like. They are absolutely fantastic

Ladurée takes classic flavors (i.e. vanilla) or exotic ones (i.e. cherry blossom) and makes it 

taste exactly how you would imagine it to be.  I think that's what makes their store the

best of the best.

This is the cherry blossom one.

~Please ignore how blurry this picture was. I was dizzy from how yummy it tasted and couldn't take a proper picture.~

It's beautiful, isn't it? 

True story: While I was eating this, I accidentally let a (rather large) crumb fall to the ground. Usually, I'm a germaphobe, refusing to touch anything dirty. But this time, I picked up the crumb and ate put it in mouth and savored it. I decided that if a single macaron costs more than three dollars, I better eat it. And besides, germs don't stick to such luxurious foods.

One last picture - I hope you aren't tired of all these pictures yet.

P.S. These photos aren't photoshopped (except for the watermarks)! I guess perfect food makes for perfect photos!

*Click here for the website.