Audabon Bakeshop: Gone but Not Forgotten!

This past spring, I was lucky to visit Audabon Bakeshop in Philadelphia, PA and as I am posting this, I am very sad to find that they closed last month. As a tribute to their fun and delicious macarons, I am going to share with you all my experience there. The bakeshop may be gone, but it is not forgotten!

While walking around Chinatown, I found this shop and was really surprised about how cute it was inside! I loved the style of the it. It was both modern and simple. Their macarons were served cold from their display case. Right away I was blown away by the beautiful colors! The macarons all had delicate shells and were delicious. The flavors that I tried were Strawberries and Cream, Salted Caramel Espresso, Hong Kong Milk Tea and Peach Cobbler.

Strawberries and Cream: These cookies were super soft with cream and fresh strawberry jam. It fell apart as I eat it, but in a good way.

Salted Caramel Espresso: This macaron had a strong espresso flavor with salted caramel in the middle and espresso cream on the outside. Luckily this was a tougher cookie because it held the cream perfectly.

Hong Kong Milk Tea: This cookie has a soft delicate shell and a fun purple color. The Asian inspired flavor had a barely sweet, milk tea cream. This was a great macaron and a fun new cream for me to try.

Peach Cobbler: This macaron had a peach filling with cream on the sides. It genuinely tasted like a fresh slice of pie!

If you ever reopen Audabon Bakeshop, I'd be happy to return!

https://www.facebook.com/AudabonBakeshop

Sugar and Plumm: Purveyors of Yummy Macarons!

Sugar & Plumm is my exception to the rule that if you want to be guaranteed delicious macarons, you should go to a bakery that specializes in them. Sugar and Plumm is a sweet shop with many different types of desserts and sweet treats. They also make amazing macarons! This is a delightful place and dream for a sugar lover or person with a sweet tooth. 

Like most shops on Macaron Day, March 20th, at 4pm, Sugar and Plumm were all out of samples. So I thought, "go big" and bought six. On this day they had a wide variety of macarons available to buy.  They were the perfect size macaron! Not too big or too small. The thickness of the cookie was delightful and they had a good filling to cookie ratio. There was also a cute foot on each with a nice shell and soft/chewy cookie. The flavors that I tried were raspberry, strawberry poppy, pistachio, vanilla, lemon yuzu and rosewater lychee.

Raspberry: There were wonderful preserves inside. I love when you can crunch down on the seeds and really enjoy the natural flavors of the filling. Full disclosure: I ate raspberry before taking the extra pictures.  I can't help myself sometimes!

Strawberry Poppy: This was a red cookie with poppy seeds. The poppy seeds were a good compliment to the strawberry flavor cream filling.

Pistachio: Very very nutty! It's creamy and delicious. The pistachio flavor is bursting out. I love when you bite into a pistachio macaron and you see the different shades of green throughout. If you love pistachio you will love this macaron. There's no escaping the delicious nutty flavor in every single bite. This is a true competitor for my favorite pistachio macaron so far.

Vanilla: This macaron had a vanilla bean shell with a strong vanilla flavor in the smooth cream.

Lemon Yuzu: Yuzu is a citrus plant originating in East Asia. The best thing about this macaron is the aftertaste. It's as though the flavor moves from you lips, over your tongue and when it gets to be back of your throat. It is sweet, sour and delicious. It is cream filled. I like the addition of the yuzu to the classic lemon macaron.

Rosewater Lychee: If you've read the blog before you'd see I tend to steer clear of floral macarons. After a few good nights with lychee martinis, it was hard to pass up a lychee macaron. This is perfect for someone who doesn't like their macarons overly sweet.  It has a nice subtle flavoring where the lychee is not overwhelming. I definitely recommend this one for someone wanting to try something new without steering too far from the classics.

Who should go here: Everyone!  This is a great place to buy dessert for a party, or an afternoon sweet for you.  It's also a great place to try macarons or indulge if you already have fallen in love with them.  They also serve food and dessert cocktails.

I'll definitely be stopping back to try: Violet Black Current & Chocolate macarons

 

 

Sugar and Plumm

Satellite Store- West Village

257 Bleecker Street
New York, NY 10014
p. 212-388-5757

http://www.sugarandplumm.com/

Is bisous ciao French for delicious macaron?

Is bisous ciao French for delicious macaron? No, it's not. But it is an amazingly adorable little macaron shop in the West Village in NYC.  

On Macaron Day (March 20th) in New York City several participants get into the spring spirit and offer free samples of their delicious macarons from 12-5pm.  On this day, I followed behind a crowd of people through the falling snow, yes I said snow on the first day of spring, to wait in line for my sample at bisous ciao.  But when I arrived at 3pm, all of the samples were gone! I think this was typical of most shops due to the tremendous turn out this year.  However, they had “buy two get one free” between 3pm-6pm which I was very happy to take advantage of.  I was glad to find that even with all of the crowds and slushy weather, the staff was still very friendly.  

Feeling the line of Macaron Day customers growing behind me, I asked for a recommendation for one and then happily picked two of my personal favorite flavors to try. All cookies were wonderful! I found them to have a perfect softness and very delicate shells. This patisserie is a must try for classic flavors.

Salted Peanut Butter and Jelly: This had a beautiful purple circle within the top of the cookie.  It had a soft shell with fluffy peanut butter cream inside. The almost secret grape was hiding inside the macaron cookie. Just when you think there isn't anything inside, the flavor sneaks up on you and it's delightful! I love peanut butter so I enjoyed it all.

Raspberry: This cookie had a seeded tart raspberry jam. It was completely full of jam, again with a soft cookie that had taken in some of the moistness of the jam. There was a slight crunch to the shell.  It tasted natural, fresh and very delicious.  I enjoyed how much filling it had!  It was a nice filling to cookie ratio.

Lemon: The lemon cream is so light and fluffy. It had this tangy-ness I enjoy in a lemon macaron with the smoothness of the cream. Definitely enjoyable!

Who should go here: A first time macaron eater would be safe here. It's also perfect for anyone who loves the classics.  You will not be disappointed.

I'll definitely be stopping back to try: I would love to try one of their seasonal flavors such as Yuzu or the Coconut Dipped (this one is dipped in dark chocolate-Hello!)

bisous ciao. Macarons -West village
235 Bleecker Street New York, NY 10014
www.bisousciao.com