Ladurée, even the name brings joy to my heart! Who are Ladurée you might ask, well they are the ultimate French Maison for macarons and sweet pastries and have been around since 1862. They have the finest macarons I have ever tasted anywhere in the world, and the simplicity of the majority being single flavoured macarons they have put their complete focus into the taste, texture and quality of ingredients.
I first discovered Ladurée a couple of years ago and was going to head into London to try them out however Bicester Village opened a pop-up café, and as I used to live a 10 minute walk away I headed straight there (just so you’re aware it has now sadly closed). I remember looking at all their macarons and beautiful patisseries on display and finding it very hard to choose, as there’s so much choice. I decided to choose a box of 12 macarons all in different flavours for my first experience (yes, it truly is an experience). That’s when I first fell in love and years later, I’m still completely head over heels which is why I couldn’t resist sharing with you are few of my favourite pastries and macarons.
It was recently my mums birthday so thought it was the perfect occasion to treat all of us to a selection of pastries from Ladurée as well as a box of macarons, the flavours included; vanilla, pistachio, rose, pecan and strawberry candy. I chose my three favourite pastries as I knew that everyone would love them, as well as a few that none of us had tried out before.
The most beautiful of them all is the Ispahan, a rose flavoured macaron filled with rose petal and lychee cream, embellished with fresh raspberries. It looks almost too good to eat and the crispness of the macaron compliments the cream filling perfectly.
My favourite is Plaisir Sucre which is a crispy and gourmet Dacquoise cake with hazelnuts, praline and milk chocolate topped with milk chocolate whipped cream. I love praline and the flavours in this are incredible, it’s a lovely and delicate treat. They actually do this as a large cake which I might treat all of us too next time I’m in London.
Fleur Noir has quite a few layers including a sacher biscuit, cocoa beans feuilletine, almond icing dark chocolate mousse, vanilla Bourbon cream and chocolate icing topped with chocolate petals. Normally I’m not over keen on dark chocolate as often find it tastes too strong, however this is not the case with the Fleur Noir and it’s not sickly either (I could easily devour a few).
Vanilla Millefeuille is a delicious Millefeuille with cream flavoured with Madagascar vanilla which is Aarons favourite. I’d say it’s one of the largest single pastries they create, however it’s very light so you can still enjoy this even if you’ve eaten a large meal beforehand.
Vanilla Saint-Honore is a light, gourmet and inescapable French pastry. It has a puff pastry base garnished with crunchy caramelised choux buns filled with a vanilla pastry cream, Chantilly cream and sliced grilled almonds. They release different versions of this a few times a year with my favourite so far being the pistachio flavour, I can’t wait until they bring it back.
As you can tell I’m a huge fan of Ladurée and can’t resist picking up a few treats whenever I’m in London. I’m actually going to incorporate Ladurée into my wedding as they have an incredible wedding brochure, the hard bit is going to be choosing what to have! However I’m still yet to indulge in their afternoon tea, so that will be next on the agenda! Have you ever been to Ladurée before?
Rebecca x
