Although my I lost most of my files when my computer hard drive decided to stop working, I still had pictures on my camera to upload, so thankfully, this is the next part of the Macaron Journey!
My friends and I celebrated a birthday last month, and Keiko and I decided to get some macarons for the mini-party (and it was also a temporary....gift since we had not found anything suitable yet.) These macarons are from Nadège, a cute cafe and patisserie on Queen St. W. I've passed there many times to get some supplies but I would forget to pop in to try their macarons. My sister has tried them before, and said some flavors were too sweet or lacking. So it's time to try them out!
I think their packaging is very sophisticated, no?
Keiko and I decided to get the 12 piece set. It was very interesting watching the lady pick and choose which macarons to put into the box. We asked for one of every flavor (they only have 10), and the remaining two to be chocolate and pistachio. None of the macarons were the same size...some where very large or small in comparison. And you couldn't fit all 12 into the box because of the size difference. That is why we have one sitting out by itself. Lonely macaron :(
The pistachio macaron! Nadege's macarons aren't as creative as On's, and this is probably the most decorated they have. But it's not always about how they look, it's more about the taste!
Don't they look yummy! From my recollection, they have these flavors:
-Chocolate
-Raspberry
-Mojito
-Pistachio
-Vanilla
-Orange Chocolate
-Cappucino
-Rose
-Cassis
-Salted Caramel
In order for us to try most of all the flavors, I was dividing them up in halves or quarters. This one is the Mojito. I personally wouldn't recommend it, as it tasted like fresh tooth paste. It had a very strong mint flavor to it.
Keiko also bought some Pecan Milk Chocolate Nougatine at Nadege to share. I don't normally eat chocolate anything, but I decided to try a bit of it, because the others were saying how good it was. It had great texture, but I'll leave it to the chocolate lovers to eat it while I deal with the macarons :)
I thought the nougatine looked a bit like beef jerky, it has to be the way it photographs. Bossu brought out some of his homemade green tea short bread cookies. They were very good...wish I knew how to bake! So here are some of the general opinions of some of their flavors.
I thought the Vanilla was not very good. The texture was gritty and very sweet. I only had a quarter of it...and I don't want to know how sweet a whole piece would have been. Laduree is still #1 when it comes to Vanilla.
Cappuccino was very interesting. It had a very strong coffee flavor and between the 4 of us who shared it, we really liked it.
Rose, unfortunately, did not fare so well among us. It tasted like liquid hand soap, something from Bath & Body works, it was quite awful. :(
Cassis was recommended. However, Bossu ate it all, so I can't comment on the taste. ^__^"
Cassis was recommended. However, Bossu ate it all, so I can't comment on the taste. ^__^"
Orange chocolate was another flavor I didn't personally taste, however it apparently was sweet with a strong chocolate flavor. The orange taste was similar to orange jell-o.
Overall, I don't think I'd buy macarons from Nadege again unless it was for specific flavors. Some of the flavors were just too over powering and too sweet. I do think Cappuccino is worth going back for...but the other ones are a bit too mediocre. I think the desserts they offer there would be a better option rather than their macarons.
This is a little extra!
This is the other item I bought that day. I actually really like their marshmallows. Lemon flavor is the best! They're a bit pricey...so I only indulge in them one in a blue moon.
The Macaron Journey blog series will feature other macarons we've tried around the world. Please stay tuned for more and my comments about them! ♥
