The French Macaron Critic: January 2015

I was delighted to find that my husband, in support of my new macaron blog, had gifted me an incredibly thoughtful gift, a 3 month subscription to Dana's macarons of the month club. So what did this include? The membership was 3 monthly shipments of 12 macarons, including their current flavor of the month. As one would presume, it can be difficult to eat that many macarons while they are still fresh. With the arrival of that first delivery, I very quickly placed the whole box in the freezer as I formulated a plan of action.

Each shipment came in a refrigerated bag with an accompanying ice pack. For extra protection, I wrapped my box in foil. This many have been unnecessary but I was happy to take the extra precaution. When the desire came, I would take out a number of macarons, place them in an airtight container for about 20-30 minutes as they defrosted and prepared for my treats!

One flavor was better than the next as I enjoyed all three months of the club. While nearly impossible to choose, I did come away with some personal favorites. The flavors shipped in each box were S'mores, Thin Mint, Molten Chocolate Mac!, Orange Creamsicle, Peanut Butter & Jelly, Red Velvet, Cookie Dough, Birthday Cake, Cup of Joe, Fruity Cereal and Key Lime Pie. It was a lot of fun trying all of the different flavors!

Overall, every single macaron was deliciously soft with a delicate smooth shell. Not one single flavor disappointed when it came to texture and amount filling. Their cookie is consistently delicate with a smooth finish and soft chewy inside. Each one gave me the same feeling that moment when your teeth crunch through the shell and you reach the soft, pillow-like cookie! Below are descriptions of some of the flavors and presentations of my favorites.

Chocolate Molten Mac!: Right now, this is my favorite chocolate macaron! Drizzled with chocolate on the top, the milk chocolate cookie had a thick chocolate ganache filling. It was dense and extremely flavorful. I often tell people who love chocolate and are trying macarons for the first time to steer clear of chocolate flavor ones. I feel like they have an expectation that it will be a very chocolaty cookie. However, this is so chocolaty that a even chocolate lover will be more than satisfied!

Fruity Cereal: This macaron had flakes of fruity pebbles throughout the cookie and the cream! This one is a must try!! It's a flashback to your childhood. It had a great texture. Fruity pebble is really the only flavor that shines through and consistently with each bite. It had a good amount of filling as to not make it overly sweet.

Red Velvet: This macaron was amazing! I loved the red cookie and how beautiful it looked inside. It didn't taste chocolaty but the cream cheese filling and cookie were the perfect compliment. This was sweet, but not overly so.

Cookie dough: This macaron had a vanilla cookie with dusting of chocolate power. It's sweet filling, doesn't really taste like cookie dough but does kind of taste like a cookie. It had a natural flavor with slivers of chocolate pieces in the filling.

Candy corn: This macaron was a flavor of the month. It was so pretty and festive for the fall. It was orange on one side and yellow on the other with a orange butter cream filling. There was a delightful surprise of a candy corn hiding on the inside.

S'mores: This macaron had a chocolate ganache filling with a dollop of marshmallow fluff accompanying it. The cookie, one chocolate and the other white, had perfect shells. The macaron had the flavor of what seems like a toasted marshmallow, giving that authentic campfire moment. I really liked it!

Who Should Go There/Order: These macarons are great as a gift (especially the macaron of the month club). They are fun to try if you are looking for “not your ordinary macaron.”

I'll definitely be stopping back to try: I’d love to try the Seat Salt Caramel and I’ll keep a look out for a their take on the classic lemon macarons.