Macaron

Not the same as a macaroon

The English word “macaroon” usually refers to a different cookie — a chewy mound of shredded coconut. The macaron (one O, French pronunciation) is a polished sandwich of two delicate almond-meringue discs cemented around a creamy filling. Both cookies share an Italian Renaissance root in maccherone, a meringue-and-almond confection.

The Parisian transformation

The modern sandwich form — two macaron shells with a filling between — is a 20th-century invention attributed to Pierre Desfontaines of the Ladurée patisserie in Paris. The colorful, glossy version familiar from Parisian shop windows took shape in the 1930s.

Why they’re hard

A perfect macaron has three signatures:

• A smooth, slightly domed shell with no cracks.
• A ruffled “foot” (pied) where the meringue rose during baking.
• A hollow-free interior, neither too crumbly nor too dense.

The technique — macaronage — calls for folding the dry ingredients into stiff egg whites until the batter flows in slow ribbons. Underfolded batter cracks. Overfolded batter runs flat. Humidity, oven temperature, and resting time all influence outcome. Even professional patissiers throw away batches.

Flavors

Classic Parisian flavors: pistachio, raspberry, chocolate, vanilla, salted caramel, lemon, rose. Modern shops experiment with savory shells (foie gras, truffle, olive oil) too.