First thing's first: Macaron and Macaroon are two different, delightful things to nibble on. While both are round, bite-sized sweets, they pertain to two different kinds of food, and are pronounced as spelled (macaron like 'macaroni' minus the i, and macaroon with its last syllable rhyming with 'noon'). Macaroons are coconut-based cookies that may or may not have almonds, and locally, you have probably enjoyed eating this by way of Goldilocks Bakeshop's chewy Butter Macaroons with desiccated coconut.
The macaron is a delicate French confection with two meringue-based discs sandwiching a sweet filling. The macaron biscuits, or shells, are traditionally made with almonds, finely ground (or in powder form), along with egg whites and icing sugar; food coloring does it magic in the shells to make these treats eye-catching. The macaron's orgins are debatable, tracing as early as the 1500s or the 1700s, and French patiserrie Ladurée is widely known to be the oldest and the best macaron maker in the world. Two other macaron purveyors that are well-loved around the world are Pierre Hermé and Jean-Paul Hévin, and travelers are known to hoard boxes of their mini meringue sandwiches as fragile handcarry to fly home as pasalubong (or personal stash). Which international macaron brand is your favorite?
While French, these macarons have become close to the hearts of many local dessert lovers, and have probably as much fans as cupcakes. These two desserts are both hand-held and pretty; they can also go from classic and traditional flavors to keep authenticity, then leap to more bold, creative, and whimsical flavors and presentation (savory cupcakes and macarons, anyone?)
Smooth, colorful, and delicate, these delicate biscuits filled with assorted flavors are perfect pop-in-your-mouth sweets and great gift items for dessert lovers. Love macarons or planning to get boxes of these French darlings as Christmas giveaways? This edition of The Click List is for you. Bookmark our list of 12 macaron purveyors in the metro where you can order these pretty confections. Which macaron flavor tops your list and where do you get them? Hit the comments section to share it with us.
Images from Alchemy Baking Magic Facebook page
alchemybakingmagic@gmail.com | FB: /alchemybakingmagic | IG and Twitter: @alchemybymeryl
Singapore-trained Meryl Go bakes delicious magic in her kitchen, whipping up crisp and rich macarons in her Greenmeadows residence.
Flavors: Regular Flavors include Chai Spice, Banana Walnut, Peanut Caramel, and Salted Caramel; Premium Flavors include Mint Chocolate Ganache, Passion Fruit Milk Chocolate, Coffee Ganache, Green Tea White Chocolate, Dark Chocolate Ganache, and Raspberry White Chocolate
Pricelist: P35/ piece (Regular), P40/piece (Premium), P220 box of 6, P285 box of 8, P425 box of 12, P550 box of 16. Pick-up only, no delivery. Place orders at least 3 days before pick-up date.
Additional images from Bar Dolci Facebook page
2. Bar Dolci
www.bardolci.com | FB: /BarDolci | IG and Twitter: @BarDolci
Sweeten your day with this patisserie-cafe's extensive line of artisan gelato and macaron, using ingredients that are all natural and come straight from the farm.
Flavors: Just like their gelato line, they offer so much flavors and limited edition ones depending on the season. Macaron flavors include Banana Choco, Biscottino, Black Sesame, Blackcurrant, Blueberry, Cherry Choco, Choco Caramel
Choco Passion, Choco Rum Truffle, Coffee, Dark Chocolate, Green Tea, Lemon Curd, Mint Chocolate, Olive Oil, Peanut Butter, Peanut Butter Jelly, Peppermint, Pistachio, Raspberry, Salted Caramel, Snickers, Strawberry, Thai Tea, Tiramisu, Vanilla, Whiskey.
Pricelist: P50/piece, P525 box of 10, P1,040 box of 20; They also have Dolcita (P70), combining their gelato and macaron–it's a gelato sandwich between two
macaron disks, dipped in chocolate and nuts.
Images from Bizu Facebook page
3. Bizu Patisserie
www.bizupatisserie.com | FB: /ilovebizu | IG and Twitter: @BizuPh
Macarons were pioneered by Bizu in the country, and thus is their bestseller. Their Macaron de Paris is known to be crisp outside, with soft crème ganache and ground almonds in the middle.
Flavors: Rose Lychee, Espresso Con Panna, Dark Chocolate, Raspberry, Passionfruit and Milk chocolate, Dulce de Leche, Madagascar Vanilla, Italian Pistachio, Caramel Fleur de Sel, Hazelnut and White truffle, Lime and French Earl Grey and Almond. Special flavors available: Tanariva, Tainori, and Alpaco
Pricelist: P55/piece, P435 box of 8, P765 box of 14, P1,535 box of 28. Premium/Special Flavors are P65/piece
4. Café Macaron
www.fairmont.com/makati/ | FB: /FairmontMakati | IG: @fairmontmakatihotel | Twitter: @FairmontMakati
Fairmont Makati Hotel's signature pastry boutique offering signature cakes, pastries, and coffee. Their authentic macarons are popular, especually the variants infused with local ingredients. Have a try and discover why their cafe is named after the French confection.
Flavors: Strawberry, Mango, Fig, Coconut, Blackcurrant, Exotic Ginger, Cherry, Toasted Marshmallow, Espresso, Pasison Fruit, Salted Gianduja Caramel, Chocolate Orange, Bourbon Vanilla, Orange Blossom, Dulce de Leche, Queso de Bola, Calamansi White Chocolate
Pricelist: P74 net per piece, and can be ordered in three box sizes to fit 4 to 6, 8to 10, and 16 to 20 pieces.
Images from Chez Karine Facebook page
chezkarine.com | FB: /chezkarinebakery | IG and Twitter: @ChezKarine
Armed with a Le Cordon Bleu Paris diploma and an internship under no less than Pierre Hermé ('The Picasso of Pastry' according to French Vogue), Pastry Chef Karen Yang offers her signature macarons, pudding jars, cookies, and other sweets.
Flavors: Salted Caramel, Pistachio, Dark Chocolate, Earl Grey, Strawberry, Speculoos, Lemon, Matcha Red Bean, Coffee, Red Velvet, Coffee & Orange, Black Sesame, Mint Chocolate, Maple Bacon, Vanilla, Peanut Butter. Special premium flavors include S'mores and Butter Popcorn.
Pricelist: P55/piece (Regular) and P60/piece (Premium). P385 for a box of 7 assorted flavors. Macarcon Gift Sets for the holidays have assorted macarons inside an elegant gift box, with ribbon and gift tag included; macarons are enclosed individually in a protective blister shell). Box of 14 (P850) and Box of 21 (P1,200) gift boxes available. Try their new Macaron Ice Cream (P70 each) in the following flavors: salted caramel, dark chocolate, and vanilla bean.
Additional images from Macarose Facebook page
6. Macarose
macarose.com | FB: /macarose.phl
Europe-trained chocolatier Rosemarie Lantin creates her Artisan Macarons with finely ground almonds and fresh butter; her pistachio paste for pistachio macarons is also made from scratch.
Flavors: Buttercream filled macarons include Vanilla Silk, Strawberry, Lemon Cream, Mocha, and Pistachio. Ganache filled macarons include Belgian Callebaut Dark, Belgian Callebaut Milk, Malagos Davao Dark 65%, Pistachio Ganache, and Orient Green Tea. Other flavors: Nutella, Nutella Kids, Hazelnut Praline, Salted Caramel, Batangas Coffee, Italian Coffee, Peppermint White Ganache, Minty Dark, Ube White Ganache, Strawberry White Ganache, Speculoos (Belgian Cookie Butter), Orange Dark Ganache, Earl Grey.
Pricelist: P50 per piece. P270 box of 6, P540 box of 12, P300 Special Gift box of 6. Macarose can also create Macaron Towers for your parties and buffets. Visit their kiosk at Mega Fashion Hall.
Images from Merry Macarons Facebook page
FB: /merrymacarons | IG: @merrymacarons
Traditional macarons use almond flour, while this homebaker's take on the delicious treats is a mix of ground almonds and cashew nuts for a local spin. What also sets this home based macaron biz apart is that their biscuits come in different sizes and shapes, and they are also offering sculpted and designer macarons.
Flavors: Coco Calamansi, Chocolate, Chocolate with Potato Chips, Dark Chocolate with Mint, White Chocolate, Coffee Caramel, Coffee with Bacon Maple, Green Tea, Earl Grey, Cookies and Cream, Nutella, Rum and Raisin, Strawberry, Red Velvet
Pricelist: P35/piece, P420 box of 12. Order 3 days in advance, pick-up is in Fairview, Quezon City. Add P300 for delivery (Quezon City, Marikina, San Juan, Pasig, Mandaluyong, Makati, The Fort, Manila, and Pasay).
Additional images from Mrs. Graham's Facebook page
www.mrsgrahamsbakery.com | FB: /MrsGrahamsCafe | IG: @mrsgrahamscafe | Twitter: @MrsGrahams
The street side café in QC is the macaron playground of self-taught homebaker Anna Graham. Here, she offers a dozen fun flavors, and serves special quirky flavors for the season (or whenever the baker is much inspired) like ensaymada, champorado, and black forest.
Flavors: Basic Flavors include Salted Caramel, Cookie Dough, White Coffee, Baileys, and Tequila Rose. Premium Flavors offered are Inside-out S'mores (Best Seller), Pancake with Maple Buttercream, and French Toast with Peanut Buttercream. Tiramisu flavor also available.
Pricelist: P45/piece for Basic Flavors, P50/piece for Premium Flavors, P60/piece for Deluxe Flavors. You can mix and match your flavors into boxes of 6.
Images from Sweet Bella Cafe Facebook page
FB: /sweetbellacafe
Home business turned restaurant, Sweet Bella is run by Chef Cristina Santiago Rivera who's been a long-time favorite for her homemade cakes and pastries.
Flavors: Salted Caramel, Coffee, Chocolate, White Coconut, Rose, Strawberry, Lemon, Passion Fruit
Pricelist: French Macarons are P60 per piece, and come in Box of 8 (P480), Box of 16 (P960) Round box of 18 (P1,080), and Round box of 30 (P1,800).
10. The Cake Club / Diamond Hotel
www.diamondhotel.com | FB: /diamondhotelphilippines | IG and Twitter: @DiamondHotelPh
Flavors: Their new dessert mash-up is a Macaron Ice Cream, rectangular macaron shells sandwiching the hotel’s popular homemade ice cream. It comes in two flavors: Ube-Vanilla and Rapsberry-Almond. More macaron ice cream combinations to be rolled out soon! Macaron flavors include Crunch Chocolate, Passion Cheesecake, Lemon, Raspberry, Salted Caramel, Pure Vanilla, and Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Pricelist: Macarons are P50/piece, Macaron Ice Cream is P230/piece.
Images from The French Baker Facebook page
11. The French Baker
www.thefrenchbaker.com | FB: /thefrenchbakerphilippines | IG @thefrenchbakerph
Probably the most affordable Parisian Macarons can be found in this popular fast-casual bakery-cafe. It's also easily accesible, too, with many outlets in the metro's malls for a grab-and-go fix of their specialty breads and baked goods.
Flavors: Rose Scented, Chocolate, Pistachio, Fleur de Sel, Lemon Lavender, Orange Ganache, Chocolate Ganache, Raspberry and Mocha.
Pricelist: P36 per piece.
twgtea.com | FB: /TWGTeaPhilippines
This Singaporean tea company does a signature take on their tiny colorful treats by infusing signature teas in the TWG Tea Macarons. Tea-infused patisseries, ice creams, and sorbets also available.
Flavors: Matcha, Napoleon Tea & Caramel, Camelot Tea & Praline, Earl Grey Fortune & Chocolate, 1837 Black Tea & Blackcurrant, Moroccan Mint Tea, Bain de Roses Tea, Lemon Bush Tea, Grand Wedding Tea, Passion Fruit & Coconut
Vanilla Bourbon Tea & Kaya
Pricelist: P55 per piece
