Pink Saturday - Valentine macarons

Pink Saturday - Beverly, at the blog "How Sweet the Sound" hosts Pink Saturday. Valentine's Day is the perfect occasion to let the color pink inspire your creativity!

What kind of treats are you giving for Valentine's Day?

Macarons are a traditional French pastry, dating back to the 18th Century. Invented at Versailles by the Dallouya family of bakers, the delicate little cakes were served with jam to the royals. The sandwich version with ganache cream inside was invented in the 1880s by patisserie Laduree.

"Marie Antoinette" photo from the New York Times

The 2006 Sofia Coppola movie "Marie Antoinette" featured macarons and led to their current popularity. Indeed, one story has it that the movie's costumes were inspired by the colors of a box of Laduree macarons that Ms. Coppola gave the designer.


Macarons are made of meringue, or beaten egg whites and sugar, mixed with ground almonds, also called almond meal or almond flour. They are often tinted with delicate colors, and flavored with extracts or nutmeats. The filling can be buttercream frosting, jam, cream cheese or rich chocolate ganache.

If you're an adventurous cook, you can give them a try. This website gives a basic recipe, and helpfully provides links to other online recipes and helpful sites. Success for making the perfectly domed cake depends on the proper handling of the delicate meringue - so look forward to several tries! Perfect or not, they are so luscious you'll enjoy eating your experiments!

The Laduree pastry shop in Paris is said to sell fifteen thousand of them every day. If you can't jet over to Paris in time for Valentine's Day, you can get macarons at several bakeries in Los Angeles.


One of those is Jin Patisserie in Venice. Its proprietor, Kristy Choo, worked as a flight attendant for an international airline, which gave her the opportunity to sample sweets all around the world. She later attended the California Culinary Academy, worked at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore, and eventually opened her shop and cafe on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice.


Here in a tiny shop and garden, serene and simply landscaped, you can sit at outdoor tables and sip tea. Pastries, cookies and tea-sandwiches are served. The macarons are available in traditional European-style flavors, such as vanilla, pistachio, rose and strawberry. For those with more adventurous tastes, there is a macaron with a filling of salt-caramel, and Asian-inpired varieties, such as tea, wasabi, and ume - a Japanese favorite made with sour plum.


There are delicate sponge cakes and mousse and other pastries available at the shop.


If you can't make it to Jin Patisserie in person, you can visit the website and order from the e-shop. There are also exquisitely crafted chocolates made with tea, chrysanthemum, lemongrass, black sesame, ginger, cinnamon, and other exotic flavors. Perfect for your very special Valentine, on this Pink Saturday.