macaron expédition

Remember my search for a macaron that rivaled the one I got in France? Well, I hadn’t given up the search, but until this past weekend, the only other macarons I had tried were the ones from the River St. Whole Foods in Cambridge. They were good, fine, whatever, but not worthy of their own post. Luckily my sister-in-law, Jordan, tipped me off that Joyce Bakeshop in Brooklyn has amazing French macarons. Now, a tiny disclaimer here that Jordan and her husband Mark are actually good friends of Joyce and her husband. That said, this place is awesome, all family connections aside. In addition to the great vibe and friendly, helpful staff (definite bonuses, but let’s not kid ourselves about the most important component of a bakeshop!), the goods here are are more than good. The shop has shelf after shelf of delectable treats of all kinds (chocolate cakes, fruit tarts, and puff pastry, oh my!) that I just can’t decide between.

I could go on and on, but it would make me too hungry and not to mention depressed because I live 4 hours away. But we were in New York this weekend visiting Mark and Jordan (and little almost 2-year-old Amelia!) and for a wedding luncheon and frankly, there was no way I was leaving the state without going to Joyce’s and getting a macaron. We went Saturday night but alas, it was too late in the day and they were out of macarons. So we tried again the next afternoon on our way out of town. Success! The second that I saw that they had macarons I ran and told the guy at the counter that I needed one of every flavor. I was in such a rush that I forgot to ask what flavors they were, so it’s kind of a guess… but I think we got coffee, vanilla, and salted caramel.

Yum, yum, yum. These are definitely the best stateside macarons we’ve had! They had the perfect balance of a delicate crunch of the outer meringue and ooey gooey middle. The vanilla was quite tasty, but not my favorite of the three (but vanilla rarely – ok, never – is). The coffee flavor was very subtle and super delicious. The caramel macaron was also quite good, but what I really loved was the salt. I wonder what kind of salt it was? The big flaky grains had a really sharp flavor and I wish I had some in my cupboard. I don’t know, maybe it was kosher salt after all and the yummy macaron just heightened the flavor experience. All in all, I strongly suggest you begin planning your next trip to Brooklyn _right now _and make sure you get to Joyce’s early enough to get yourself a macaron (or 10).