Are you ready for a throwdown?
French macarons are believed to have come to France from Italy by the Medici's in the 1700s. Since then, the French macaron has been an iconic and tasty staple on the French pastry scene. Today, macarons are gaining popularity in the US and taking over the cupcake as the newest dessert trend.
Macarons contain simple ingredients - ground almonds, egg whites, and sugar. Making them is a skill and often takes a few attempts to get it right. The macaron cookies are flavored to gain their signature colors, and filled with a cream, ganache, or frosting. 2 macaron cookies stuffed with delicious frosting equals one fabulous treat!
St. Petersburg is now catching onto the macaron trend. Within .1 miles from each other, Le Macaron and Cassis American Brasserie are serving up these pretty French delights! To celebrate my love of all things French, and the opening of Le Macaron, I decided to have an impromptu macaron throwdown.
The competitors:
Le Macaron and Cassis American Brasserie
The challenge:
French macarons
Packaging:
Le Macaron carefully wrapped the macarons in tissue and placed them in a box, sealed by a sticker.
Cassis threw them in a big box, no wrapping. The logo was stamped on the box and not quite as pretty.
Cost:
$0.95 each at Cassis and $1.80 each at Le Macaron
Accomplices:
Le Macaron is a simple store - macarons, chocolates, and croissants.
Cassis has a rotating menu of cakes, tarts, truffles and more (including a special treat for dogs). They also have a full restaurant next door.
Flavors:
Le Macaron had about 14 flavors of macaron available, while Cassis had 6.
Service:
Le Macaron had 2 French gentleman helping guests. The French accent really adds to the experience. For a moment I felt I was at Laudree or Hermes in Paris.
Cassis had 2 people working behind the counter at the bakery. I was greeted with a smile, but no French accents...
Taste:
All of the macarons were delicious!
Overall:
I am happy eating Macarons from either location. Both have French owners and know how to make macarons well. Le Macaron has the edge of making you feel as if you are at a small shop in Paris, but Cassis is better if you want more of a variety of sweets. I did prefer the variety of flavors at Le Macaron (fresh mint, walnut, coffee, chocolate, chestnut, and more!) to those at Cassis (banana, raspberry, lavender, caramel).'
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| A quick photo of the stars at Le Macaron |
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| Gourmet chocolates and croissants |
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| Some of the treats at Cassis |
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| Cassis has a large variety of baked goods to choose from |
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| Banana and lavender macarons from Cassis |
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| Pretty packaging from Le Macaron |
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| Chocolate macarons are my favorite, if you couldn't tell |
Check out these great sweet shops!
203 1st Street NE - St. Pete
170 Beach Drive NE - St. Pete
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