Gingerbread

One of the first macaron recipes I tried was Ladurée Paris’s Pain d’Épice – or Gingerbread. I was such a hit that popular demand has brought it back each year. I up the ante by sourcing ingredients even more fine than it’s predecessors. I’ve also made a few tweaks. Here’s what’s in it:

• ​Valrhona Ivoire 35%, a white chocolate that reveals aromas of warm milk enhanced by delicate vanilla notes.
• Ceylon Cinnamon has a mildly sweet flavor and is of the finest quality, co-op grown in Sri Lanka and hand ground in mortar and pestle.
• Star Anise has a very strong, distinct flavor that is sweet and spicy, similar to licorice. Grade AAA – hand selected and ground in mortar and pestle.
• Indonesian Vanilla Beans: sweet, with a unique woody flavor; plump, pliabe and moist – these hand selected beans are as fresh as they get.
• French Chestnut Honey from Augier & Fils, Provence in the southeast of France. It’s a woody honey full of flavor with strong character as it gets its flavor by the pollenation of Mediterranian sun-kissed chestnut trees.
• Sicilian Blood Orange Marmalade from Casa Forcello with unparalleled, sophisticated flavor from the juice and zest of fresh Sicilian blood oranges.