Introduction to our blog

Welcome to our Macaron blog.  On this site we will be discussing everything to do with macarons, who we like them, why we think they are the best sweet a patisserie can produce how you can make the most from them. 

As an introduction to us, we are an independent bakery currently working from a kitchen without a shop front.  We are a new business looking to take our brand to Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, London and beyond.  We sell through our website Fondant & Chocolate and from our contacts.  Many people have met us through wedding shows and from seeing our products through past orders.

We will start this blog with an introduction to macaroons.

Macarons (sometimes mistakenly spelt macaroons) are a sweet meringue based biscuits made with eggs, icing sugar and almond powder.  They are willed with ganache, butter cream or fruit preserve, depending on the flavour choice. 

Although they are of French origin, the name is Italian from the meringue biscuits they are made from.  The exact origin is unknown and steeped in confectionary legend.  Historians have traced their provenance to the time of Henry II of France.  Henry married into the influential Italian Medici family with his union of Catherine de' Medici's.  It is though Catherine de' Medici's brought Italian pastry chefs with her in 1533 and through this Franco-Italian gastronomy the macaron was born.

The company which more than anyone else has brought the macaron into the 21st century is the Parisian luxury bakery and sweets maker house Ladurée.  In 2005 Ladurée opened its first international brand in London and the high art of macaron making and eating finally came to the UK.  At Fondant & Chocolate we are continuing the traditions handed down from the first macaron makers by creating these wonderful treats for all to enjoy.