On Macarons: Cookery Class

Hi guys! Last Thursday I went to a macaron making class at On Macaron Cookery School!

I bought the class through Groupon for about 50% off, and I'm so so glad I did.

What's amazing though, was that at the London Coffee Festival, I saw this table full of AMAZING macarons, and couldn't resist taking loads of photos. As I was looking at them though, I thought the logo looked really familiar, and then it hit me that this was the company I was doing a lesson with!!

Jump!

Before I get onto the lesson, I want to tempt and tantalise you with pictures of some of the macarons they make. I have never seen or heard of macarons this complex, and with such interesting flavours, so I'm desperate to try some of these.

Matcha Manju: The healthy vitality of Matcha Green Tea combines with Azuki Red Bean and creates a quintessentially Japanese sweet to transport you to the teahouses of Kyoto.

Lady Yang: Lady Yang was one of the famed four beauties of ancient China, and the Emperor Xuanzong assigned his imperial couriers to deliver her favourite fruit thousands of miles from the south - the Lychee.

Hopefully this macaron, which brings together sweet Lychee with the sharpness of Raspberry, will similarly delight you.

Sakura Zensen: The fresh bloom of the Cherry Blossom tree is the inspiration for this beautiful macaron, bringing together the freshness of Japanese Sakura (cherry blossom) with the heady sweetness of English Rose.

Madam Butterfly: To accompany the highest love and deepest sorrow of the opera, On orchestrates dark, crisp Charcoal with delicate White Peach and rich Japanese Plum Liqueur for a symphony of flavour.

Akitsushima (The Island of the Dragonfly): Akitsushima is one of the ancient names for Japan, where the dragonfly symbolises happiness, courage, and strength. The bright macaron combines the bold flavour of Ginger with Asian Melon and effervescent Champagne to bring a smile to your face.

I think they're available at Harrods or you can buy collections online from between £8 - £10. Don't they look incredible?

Anyway, onto my lesson. It started at 6pm, and was scheduled as lasting 2 and a half hours (although we were basically there until the macarons were made, so it was more like three). The teacher's name was Loretta, and she was obviously very particular about the recipes, being classically trained, so was very honest about whether we were doing it right or wrong! She said at the beginning 'I'd rather have you leave here having learnt something, and leave here thinking I'm a nice person'...

I went away with both though, as she was absolutely lovely. As the lesson wore on, and everyone got to know each other, the atmosphere was so relaxed and friendly. There was tea on the side, and about halfway through there was a big platter of sandwiches left for us to eat!

The teaching itself was really good too. We got to see Loretta demonstrate how to do it, and make notes on our recipe sheet, but immediately after it was completely hands on as we all made out own!

These are my macaron halves :D

I won't give away the recipe (you need to go to the class yourself :P) but it needs to be executed with complete precision, and needs three days preparation in advance!! Despite this, under Loretta's guidance, we all managed to knock out some decent looking macarons.

We filled them with a simple chocolate ganache and voilà!

Beautiful pink macarons! I can't tell you how proud it made me being able to take these home. I was walking home so carefully the whole way, worrying I'd trip and drop the box!

What was also great was that Loretta had equipment we could buy off her for really reasonable prices. I find with a lot of cookery classes that while it's easy to make the recipes with their equipment, once you get home, you realise you don't have half the stuff you need, and have to special order it from all over the place! I'm definitely going to try making these again sometime next week, with the cassis essential oil and violet colouring paste I bought! (cassis and chocolate macarons anyone? :9)

I can't recommend this class enough, it was so much fun, and I really felt like I learnt something. I really hope On Macaron holds more classes, and maybe intermediate and advanced levels (I now have my heart set on pulling off the beautiful complicated ones...)

Emma

xxx