At Faubourg鈥檚 Hornby Street location, Franck Point holds a salted caramel macaron up to the light of one of his caf茅鈥檚 slick chandeliers.
Point, who owns Faubourg鈥檚 three locations, is explaining his criteria for the perfect macaron.
First, the shell. Point looks for a perfectly round shell, and that the two halves of the macaron match exactly. Second, colour. 鈥淭his caramel macaron, if you leave it in the oven another 20 seconds, it goes from light beige to dark beige,鈥� he says. (Clearly, dark beige is not acceptable.)
Next, Point explains that macarons should have a sheen on top, which indicates the correct proportion of sugar and technique. Fourth, he looks for a slight dome on each cookie; they shouldn鈥檛 be too flat. Finally, the foot 鈥� the bubbly-looking base of each macaron 鈥� should be uniformly even.
Juliette Piat, Faubourg鈥檚 online marketing manager, adds, 鈥淎nd it should have the perfect chewiness inside, with a perfectly crisp shell.鈥�
If that sounds awfully persnickety for a French sandwich cookie, consider that Faubourg tosses anything that doesn鈥檛 meet those criteria. When they first started, that was as much as half of each batch 鈥� these days, it鈥檚 closer to 10 per cent.
鈥淔or people to pay $2 [each], it must be a perfect macaron,鈥� says Point. 鈥淚t isn鈥檛 a big deal if you eat one that鈥檚 not perfect, but I can鈥檛 sell it in my store.鈥�
Faubourg鈥檚 macarons are undeniably beautiful, and they taste as good as they look. Standouts include the jasmine, which nails the floral flavour without tasting soapy, and the Faubourg signature, with its punchy passionfruit filling. March also brings the macaron of the month: baguette-flavoured, made with the bakery鈥檚 own bread.
On March 20, you can taste that attention to detail for yourself. It marks the fifth annual Macaron Day in Vancouver, a tradition started by the macaron king himself, Paris鈥檚 Pierre Herme. On that day only, Faubourg鈥檚 macarons will be available for $1 each. The business will match each donation until they鈥檙e sold out, and all proceeds will go to the BC Cancer Foundation.
A word of warning: last year, Faubourg was out of macarons by early afternoon. If that happens again, don鈥檛 worry. There鈥檚 plenty of consolation in a puckery lemon tart, flaky millefeuille or buttery croissant.
Faubourg: Kerrisdale (2156 West 41st Ave), downtown (769 Hornby St), West 麻豆传媒映画(792 Main St, Park Royal South), .
鈥楲ittle bit of sacrilege鈥�
Also participating in Macaron Day is Mount Pleasant鈥檚 French Made Baking. Catherine and David Introligator have grown the business from a farmer鈥檚 market stall to their cozy caf茅, which now includes a small tearoom.
French Made Baking was one of the first in town to participate in Macaron Day, in 2011. On March 20, French Made Baking will donate 15 per cent of their macaron sales to the BC Children鈥檚 Hospital Foundation. They鈥檒l also have a donation jar in the caf茅, and each customer that day will receive a miniature macaron.
French Made Baking has a dozen flavours in regular rotation, including the lovely and traditional pistachio, and a vanilla macaron flecked with black seeds without being cloyingly sweet. And there鈥檚 a new macaron in town: a vegan macaron.
The vegan macaron shells are made with a plant-based egg white substitute, while the filling uses date-almond milk from local company Nuez. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a little bit of sacrilege,鈥� Catherine admits, her French accent adding a certain gravitas. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 pretty similar to the original recipe. I think it鈥檚 a nice evolution for the macaron, not treason.鈥�
And how does it taste? Not bad. It鈥檚 not quite the same as a traditional macaron 鈥攕lightly softer and just a touch grainy 鈥� but as far as sacrilege goes,
I鈥檒l take it.
French Made Baking, 81 Kingsway, .
