Sucré, New Orleans

This month I finally got to take my first trip to The Fiancé's hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana. Along with meeting family and friends, and marveling at the historic and unique architecture, I couldn't wait to try out all of the famous local foods. In addition to the obligatory gumbos, crawfish, poboys, beignets and King Cakes (yes, I may have sampled all of these and more, don't judge), when researching a bakery to visit, Sucré came up again and again.
 
While I wouldn't call it a "traditional" New Orleans bakery, the treats at Sucré have an overwhelming French influence, which IS traditional New Orleans :) Along with delicate patisserie desserts, gelato, and cupcake, Sucré also specializes in artisan truffles, chocolate bars and--of course--macarons.

In addition to the traditional almond, vanilla, pistachio and chocolate flavors, Sucré also features seasonal and New Orleans-flavored favorites I'd never seen before such as carrot cake, white chocolate lavender, bananas foster and pecan pie.

With plenty of tables and an assortment of teas, coffees and drinking chocolates, Sucré is the perfect stop after an afternoon of shopping on Magazine Street, or for a little taste of Paris in the bustle of The Big Easy. Can't make it down south anytime soon? Sucré delivers!

Wish I'd been able to try the S'mores tart--comes heated in its own miniature skillet!

More truffles than you know what to do with. Luckily there's a handy flavor guide

If you go
Sucré
3025 Magazine St
New Orleans, LA 70115
@SucreNewOrleans
https://www.facebook.com/shopsucre

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Pistacia Vera

Even though I try to keep up with bakery developments in my home town, luckily my parents are always on the lookout for new sweet spots to try out for whenever I come to visit. This was the case on my last trip home--even though my visit was a surprise, my mom didn't miss a beat and dropped several hints that there was a place in Columbus' German Village called Pistacia Vera that she thought I might like.

I know what you're thinking--German Village?? For those who haven't had the pleasure of visiting Columbus, Ohio, German Village sparks the same reaction in many Columbusites that Georgetown invokes in some here in D.C. "It's out of the way!" "It's crowded!" "It's so hard to park!"All valid points. But Pistacia Vera is more than worth the trip to this quaint cobblestoned neighborhood.

Billing itself as a "dessert boutique," Pistacia Vera might as well call it like it is--a patisserie. I was amazed walking into the adorable shop, with a case full of pastries that could have come straight from Paris.

In addition to the traditional galettes, financiers, palmiers and (my all time favorite) cannelés there are, of course...macarons! Can you tell I just can't get enough of these things? :) Pistacia Vera whips up traditional flavors like pistacio, coconut and nutella as well as amazingly delicious, unique flavors like Black raspberry Rose, Cassis Chocolate Bergamot, and Yuzu Bergamot.

In addition to phenomenal pastries, Pistacia Vera also offers a small brunch menu from 7am-2pm daily--be sure to get there early to snag one of the few tables in the light-filled dining room. If Columbus isn't on your radar any time soon, never fear--Pistacia Vera has an online boutique! Their macarons, nougat, toffee, cookies and coffee are all available to order.

If you go:
Pistacia Vera
541 South Third Street
Columbus, OH 43215
(they have a parking lot across the street!!)

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Mastering Macarons

It's funny how sometimes the things that should be easiest in life are always the hardest. Take the humble macaron; although often having only three measly ingredients, these persnickety cookies have been confounding chefs for centuries. Simply one too many mixes of the batter, or uncooperative humidity in your kitchen and your cute, round cookies will turn into dry, flat wafers.

The first time a friend and I made macarons they came out perfectly.  I mean perfect. I was buoyed by our success and didn't see what all the fuss was about. I was cocky. So, a couple of months later when I planned to make macarons for a cherry blossom-themed dinner party, I didn't think twice. Big mistake. The curse of the macaron reared it's ugly head and, while still delicious, mine came out flat and chewy.

So before attempting my next batch of macarons, I decided it was time to get some help from the professionals. Enrolling in a "Mastering Macarons" class at my local Sur La Table, our class spent an instructive three hours with chef Monya Maynard learning the secrets of "macaronnage" and "macaronner." Which is French for, "how you mix the dry stuff" and "how you mix the wet stuff." What was most helpful about this class was actually getting to SEE what the macarons should look like at each stage. Often, I think we are too preoccupied with the recipe, and don't see what's really happening (Deep, I know).

For example, standard wisdom calls for mixing the macaron batter exactly 25 times. No more, no less. Clearly this is unrealistic, and Chef Maynard showed us exactly what the batter should look like (drizzle a little bit off the back of a spoon and it should disappear into the rest of the batter within 10 seconds) regardless of how many times you stirred it to get to that point.

Similarly, most recipes will tell you to allow the macaron cookies to rest 30 minutes before baking. But, as we learned in class, this amount of time will vary based on the temperature and humidity in your kitchen. Essentially, the top of the cookie needs to dry in order to form the telltale macaron "foot", which could take up to an hour. Because of the conditions in our kitchen classroom, we even had trouble getting our chocolate macarons to set. Instead of setting our macarons by the clock, we learned to look for a matte finish to tell that they were no longer sticky.

In addition to all of these helpful tips, we also got a copy of what I consider to be macaron gold...Behold: The Template. By slipping a copy of this sheet under parchment paper, you get perfectly sized macarons every time!! While you could make one of these on your own with a pencil, some quarters, and a hell of a lot of patience, I'll let you in on a little secret...you can get your very own template here from honeyandsoy. You're welcome.

When it comes down to the simple things in life, I guess you just need to know what to look for. And a good template.

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