Ladurée is an upscale bakery, most known for its macaron, whose history is intimately tied to Parisian tea rooms.
Still on Champs-Élysées, I made sure to make a stop at the very famous Ladurée. From the outside, you will easily notice the celadon green with gold accent façade. Looks quiet but wait ’til you get inside!
The Ladurée Macarons
At the beginning of 20th century, Pierre Desfontaines, second cousin of Louis Ernest Ladurée, thought of taking two macaron shells and joining them with a delicious ganache filling. At present time, these small, rounded cakes, soft and smooth in the middle, crisp on the outside, are made every morning in Laduree’s “laboratory”. The pastry chefs measure out very precisely the required amounts of almonds, eggs and sugar, before adding one final secret ingredient.
Inside the tea salon
Inside, you will rub elbows (quite literally) with people wanting to have a taste of the luscious macarons that come in small & big sizes and different flavours – coffee, pistachio, rose, orange blossom, liquorice, cherry blossom, chocolate, melon, iced mint, peach, vanilla, lemon, rum vanilla, morello cherry, salted caramel, strawbery candy “guimauve” and Marie-Antoinette tea.
I bought a small box of big six-piece macarons for €17,00. But here’s a tip: You can actually just buy one piece, for €6,00 I think, if you’re on a budget but really want to try it! Haha No shame in that! 😉
The verdict
It would be best to visit Ladurée if you have a little bit of extra $$$ as it can be really expensive. But undeniably, their fine pastries, especially the macarons, are worth tasting at least once!
