The Dish from Paris: Mini Macarons and Ice Cream at LaDuree

 

 

A ritual I repeat with each visit to Paris is an afternoon visit to LaDuree's tea salon.  I don't  mean walking up to the take-away counter and ordering a box of macarons and a few pastries to carry out and eat in a nearby park. Although, I do that, too.  No, a trip to Paris isn't complete without an afternoon in one of LaDuree's salons de thé.  I must nestle myself  behind one of the petite tables, with my legs tightly tucked underneath, and have dessert. 

There are many joys to visiting LaDuree that begin before you even enter the salon.  The windows, with their pastel-colored decorations and macaron towers, have you anxious for the princess-like treasures inside.  The ornately decorated belle epoque salon transports you back to a time where women wore dresses with bustles, hats, gloves and carried parasols.  I always feel an awe when inside, immagining what famous person might have sat in the same seat as I am.  The atmosphere and the pastries are definitely reasons to dine dessert (I only eat the sweets) inside.  They are not the real reason I go. No, the real reason I enter the tea salon is for a specific dessert.  It's one you can only get inside, seated at a table.

 

 

 
 

 

The dessert is the Minis Macarons Glaces (mini macarons with ice cream).  It's not really a beauty, especially compared to the colorful little jewels, those macarons and pastries, that first come to mind when one says LaDuree.  No, this dessert is an ugly stepsister to those pretties.  What she lacks in looks, she more than makes up for in taste.  I'm a sucker for contrasts both in flavor and texture, so I love this dessert.  Two delicate, sweet and crispy macarons sandwiched around dense and creamy ice cream, a little symphony of flavors.  They also offer sorbets with the macarons.  A little different contrast are the sorbets. Here bright, cold, and tangy sorbet is like a jive dance with the macaron cookies. 

Now, I have always been able to pick each of the four flavors, and I always make the tragic faux pas of combining ice cream and sorbet. A French person told me once, this is "just not done!" Oh well, that's what I like, and I made my usual request for a scoop of chocolate ice cream, two macarons with ice cream and two with sorbet, lemon and raspberry flavors.  The waiter told me I could only choose my scoop of ice cream, and they would choose the four macaron flavors.  What?!! They can't change the rules! I was certain my horrible French was causing the confusion and repeated my request three times.  Finally, my friend Karina, who's fluent in French, stepped in and asked for me.  Yep, they changed the rules, probably to keep goofy Americans like me from commiting the mortal sin of combining sorbets and ice creams. I ordered pistaschio ice cream, and with it, came chocolate, vanilla, cafe and pistachio macarons filled with the same flavors of ice cream.  It was creamy and sweet, dense and light, the contrasts of flavors and tastes I love presented in a silver cup.  I did think about ordering another cup with only sorbets but decided to do that next time.  Instead, I purchased a few macarons and other pastries from the take-away counter for later.  My trip to Paris was complete.

 

 

 Individual Saint Honore pastry from LaDuree

 

Harmonie Pastry from LaDuree

 

 

 
 

Note: Photos inside LaDuree are not allowed, but I snuck a quick photo of the macarons and ice cream dish solely to share it with you. The rest of the photos were taken outside.

 

 

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Is there a thing you must do or eat when visiting one of your favorite cities?

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Join me in Provence in 2013 for a French Pastry Culinary Vacation and learn how to create these and other classic French pastries! Details here: Pastry-Making Vacation in Provence

  

  

Related Posts:

Paris Walks for Food Lovers: Rue de Seine and Rue Bonaparte

 French Pastries and Ten Top Patisseries in Paris

Easter Chocolates in Paris Windows

Chocolate Eclairs: My Mom and Learning to Make Them 

Flaky Apple Tart - Croustade aux Pommes Inspired by Pavillon Margaux

A French Fraisier to Celebrate My Blog Birthday

Meyer Lemon Tart Inspired by Gerard Mulot

Cooking Classes for the Culinary Traveler in Paris

La Duree - My "Cartier" of the Champs Elysees

The Dish from France: Viennoiserie

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Paula]

Must eat gelato in Venice. Must have cannoli in Sicily (haven't been there, yet). Must have trifle and go to the Lake country in England. These, of course, are just a few of my musts.

[Susan]

Oh my! I am determined to make Parisian Macarons for Christmas - do you have a favorite recipe? Merci!

[rebecca]

wow love the combo with ice cream adore Paris
Umm when I do go back to the UK have to have tea and cake in a traditional tearoom - Rebecca

[Corinne @ Gourmantic]

Well done on getting a couple of photos! :) I even got done for taking photos outside the shop - got a nasty glare from an employee. I don't get it. Not as if we're stealing secret recipes!

I must say that St Honore looks very classy and decadent!

[Liana @ femme fraiche]

I gaped at the decor of La Duree when I first visited there. However, my foodie obsession was not yet quite extended to that of French patisserie and unfortunately, I did not dabble in the world of macarons:( What a shame!! These look INCREDIBLE and after some time in Sicily this summer, you could understand my love for pistachio!

[Kathy]

Paula - Yes, absolutely agree with you on the cannoli in Sicily, and actually, only in Sicily

Susan - I basically use the recipe from MOF Stephen Glacier's "Macaron" book. I bought it in France and don't think you can get it here. (I'll email you the recipe.) Now, I have macaron recipes from that book, Pierre Herme and LaDuree's (just got the LaDuree book in French)....so I'm thinking about doing a recipe smackdown. What do you think?

[Kathy]

Corrine - Thank you. The St. Honore was very very good. I've heard they don't allow window photos either, but no one's ever said anything to me. I've taken window photos at all three Paris locations. Guess I've been lucky. I don't understand the anti-photo mentality at all; it should be looked at as a form of flattery.

[theveggie]

Wow, your camera taks crisp, clean pictures. Were you lugging around a big one with a huge lens (I imagine you were using a P&S since you were able to sneak a picture inside the shop?)?? I love the ambiance in Laduree (have only been to the one @ Harrod's in London), but I can't eat the macaroons b/c I'm allergic to eggs, so I just hang out and have tea. My goal is to find an egg substitute that will whip up the way necessary to make a beautiful macaroon!! This might be my NY resolution =)

[Tuula M]

Amazing photos - just gorgeous! They look professionally done & great angles on all the shots, beautiful!
The Minis Macarons Glaces sounds to die for - just wish I could replicate it at home, lol :)

[Notjustanothermilla.wordpress.com]

Kathy - what a great set of photographs! I completely understand the appeal of those little macarons and since I've been living in Paris, I've discovered Ladurée's 'religieuse à la rose'. Heaven on a plate!

[Alelunetta]

I love macarons too and french patisserie, but I think that Laduree's are a little too sweet for me!! My favourite one is "cassis" (and maybe hazelnut, and chocolate), but I've never tasted ice cream filled macarons...they look delicious!
Sometime french people are orthodox on food like... sicilians! My husband chose a chocolate+lemon granita once in Catania and the waiter nagging told him that the two flavours really don't match together...!

[Kathy]

The veggie - Actually, I have a pretty big camera and lens (Nikon D90), that I lug around with me in my travels. I call it "la bimba (the baby), because I give it extra special care like others do their baby. I had the camera out pretending to show my friend photos that I had already taken, and when the dish arrived....well, I took the picture.

Notjustanothermilla - I adore the look of the religeuse a la rose - it's like a little jewelry box, but I'm not a fan of the rose-petal syrup flavor, so I stick with a coffee or chocolate regligeuse.

Alelunetta - I understand what you're saying about the sweetness. I can only eat one or two macarons at a time, except when eating them with ice cream. For me, the fat of the ice cream cuts the sweetness of the meringue. Oh no, I might now be breaking an Italian rule because I'm doing a dinner this weekend where I'm serving lemon granita for the pre-dessert and then a torta setteveli!