Macaron, macaroon, macaroni

Driven nearly mad with envy at The Girl Who Ate Everything’s description and ingestion of Macarons, I was determined not to be left out.

However, I still suffered a slight confusion of what a macaron was. The first thing I thought of was those deceptively light shredded coconut cookies drizzled or dipped in chocolate. However, what I saw others eating were more like light meringue type cookies with a ganache filling. So I wikipedia-ed both words: macaroon and macaron. Research done, I went ahead to fulfill my eating destiny.

Luckily for me, I live in a city which loves trends, especially those of the sweet nature, as evidenced through crazes of ‘light’ Japanese cheesecake, Portuguese egg tarts, not to mention the long queues at Beard Papa. Unluckily for my waistline, living in a district comprising of one of the most expensive retail space in Hong Kong, I have seen many a trendy food pass by within a short walking distance from my house.

Although the macaron trend has not been taken up with such mass enthusiasm, I was still lucky to get my paws on some at the new European style chocolate and cake shop in Sogo, Antique, and purchased two, one chocolate (bien sur!) and one earl grey (HK$10 each).

I decided to try the earl grey one first as I was afraid that the chocolate one would overwhelm my senses.

The small grayish white macaron was speckled with black and was crisp and yielding at the same time. The outside ‘shell’ was incredibly crisp giving way to a very light airy crumb with a delicious caramelly ganache. It was delicately perfumed with earl grey tea but did not overwhelm. It was delicious and I had to restrain myself from shoving the rest in my mouth at one go.

The chocolate one was similar in that it too had a crisp shell with a soft moist crumb giving way to a ganache of chocolate which was not as rich as it looked but still very sweet and tasty. It was good but I preferred the earl grey macaron by a large margin.

Conclusion?

I want more!

The macarons very sweet but very delicate and although it was slightly small for my taste, but I enjoyed being able to try different flavors without becoming bored. Besides, two was absolutely perfect with a strong cup of tea.


You can find Ancient at Sogo in Causeway Bay, just under the escalator going up.