Macaron Magic at Pierre Hermé

Macarons are evil. These bite-sized, girly-coloured meringue-based nuggets of sugary goodness somehow make most girls weak at the knees or lose their minds, not to mention very grabby and extremely possessive once they get their mitts on a box. Call it the Gollum effect if you will.. and I’m no exception. So of course, the first thing many of my girlfriends and I did when Pierre Hermé finally opened its doors in Hong Kong in 2013, was immediately trot to IFC to gawk at the display of macarons, buy a box of 7 precious confections, stroke said box in a Gollum-like manner and then proceed to elegantly cram the goodies in our mouths.

Pierre Hermé Macaron heaven in IFC

Fast forward to last month and Pierre Hermé opened its third shop inside The Ritz-Carlton. Sadly I couldn’t make it to their afternoon tea party to celebrate and sample their afternoon tea sets  which were crafted especially for Valentine’s Day. However, I was lucky to have a chance to pop to their IFC shop for a sinful breakfast of macarons so I could try a couple of their non-regular flavours. The terrible feeling of having a breakfast of macarons was short-lived once I stepped inside and proceeded to gaze lovingly at the selection in front of me.

My precious

My normal go-to’s are Isaphan, Huile D’Olive, Celeste (Passion fruit, strawberries and rhubarb) and the Infiniment Pistache, so I was delighted that I got to try and now fall in love with different 5 flavours which were:

– Infiniment Rose (Rose & Rose Petals)

– Rose & Coing (Rose & Quince)

– Mogador (Milk Chocolate & Passion fruit)​

– Chuao (Chuao Chocolate & Blackcurrant) Not part of the usual line-up!

– Truffle Blanche & Noisette (White Truffle & Roasted Piedmont Hazelnut Slivers) Winter selection only

The amazing line-up

Honestly, all 5 were sensational, but I must say that the Mogador is my new favourite, with its delicate balance of milk chocolate and the slightly tart Passion fruit coming through. Another new love is the Truffle Blanche which I saved till last and really savoured. (Though I think the girls watching me eat would probably beg to differ as I doubt I spent more than 5 minutes in total wolfing all 5). The truffle was extremely aromatic and frankly, this macaron blew my mind. Thankfully the truffle is only available during the winter season otherwise I’d be tempted to constantly buy a box of ONLY this flavour.

Hello Truffle Blanche

One of my best friends in Singapore reaped the benefit of my “taste testing” when I visited her the following week with a box of all the above. It was one of the more hilarious things I’ve seen, seeing D’s eyes go wide at the sight of the macarons and trying really really hard to eat them slowly and painfully, with more will-power than I have, saving half, maybe a quarter, of some of the flavours for her husband. That’s true love right there.

Chopstixfix rating: 5/5 BECAUSE I LOVE MACARONS

Pierre Hermé Paris- IFC Mall Central, Shop 1019C Podium Level One (10am-9pm)/ Harbour City, Kowloon, Shop 2410, Level 2, Gateway Arcade (10am-10pm)/ The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, Kowloon, ICC, 1 Austin Road West (10am-8pm)

Many thanks to Pierre Hermé Paris- Hong Kong and Catch On for the kind invitation and letting a girl enjoy macarons with unabashed delight. 

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Pierre Hermé Macarons

Pierre Hermé Macarons are legendary. Exquisitely beautiful, not just to look at, but also to savour, so I was naturally DELIGHTED when my parents brought 2 boxes of assorted Macarons all the way from London!My favourites? The gorgeous, nutty ‘Pietra’- a Hazelnut Praline macaron, the ‘Mogador’- milk chocolate and passion fruit (delicate infusion of passion fruit bursting through the chocolate) and of course, the Rose- Rose and Rose petal delicately combined to give the sweetest of tastes.

I can’t agree more that Pierre Hermé created these delights with “pleasure as his only guide”.

7-Eleven is Pocky Heaven

A very quick note to say that I have discovered the best “Pockys” in the world.

It’s not the Pocky brand but it’s the same biscuit stick concept.

Japanese brand Lotte makes their own version called Toppo and I have just gotten myself hooked on their Creme Brulee sticks. Seriously,it’s a dessert in a stick,what more could you ask for- it’s not messy and you can carry it in your bag to satiate your sweet cravings.

Get down to your nearest 7-Eleven now!

Cookie monster alert

Hong Kong is a constant wonder to me with all its hidden eateries, bakeries, markets, cha chan tengs, dai pai dongs etc so I wasn’t surprised to discover the existence of yet another foodie slice of heaven.

I have a savoury tooth so usually when confronted with a bar of chocolate, I will politely break off a section and that is that. But, if it’s a pack of shortbread or all butter biscuits, then there’s no stopping the secret cookie monster lurking inside ( I even have a T-shirt to prove it), especially if there’s a cup of tea in front of me for dunking.

I was very intrigued when my friend brought me a hefty tin of biscuits from Jenny Bakery. At first, I thought these were just your ordinary, run of the mill biscuits. It had a cute picture of a teddy bear on the front, dressed in pyjamas with a night cap on and I thought, ok, I like biscuits, but I won’t be scoffing my face, I will share with friends and colleagues.

Oh how wrong I was- behold, the most delectable, scrumptious, yummy tin of biscuits you will ever come across. I swear these are the best all butter cookies you will find, even better than Fortnum and Mason’s all butter variety biscuits I think!

My friend assured me “These cookies are the best” and she ain’t wrong. The tin I received was the 4 mix variety, but I’ve been told that if you go to their bakery (there are several branches, details below), that you can choose your mix except in peak times- Christmas, New Year etc. Through research (having not been to the bakery myself yet), I have discovered that all the cookies and cakes Jenny Bakery sells are home-made and fresh and only come in tins. Their specialty is the all butter cookie which is verrrrrryyyyy dangerous for me.

Now, on closer inspection and tasting of the “4 mix”, I can definitely say that the best 2 were the all butter and the coffee flavoured butter cookies. OMG, such crumbly, soft, buttery, melt in your mouth parcels of joy. They are small, so you can just pop them in your mouth- again, very dangerous. If you’re not a coffee lover- you are missing out! I love the way they make these 2 cookies, lots of gentle folds in the shape, pleasing to the eye.

The shortbread and the raisin cookies, however, were less moreish. The raisin cookie was just normal, and a bit dry. The shortbread cookie, although good, was not as outstanding as its all butter counterparts.

Prices are $6o for small and $93 for large tins of 4 mix varieties. For the 8 mix, the prices are $88 and $140 respectively. Jenny Bakery also makes pineapple rolls which I can’t wait to try!

Chopstixfix rating: 4.5/5

Jenny Bakery: http://www.jennybakery.com/

1-5 Sugar Street, Shop 1047, Causeway Bay, Tel: 2577-3789 / 1/F, No.11 Stanley New Street, Stanley Market, Stanley, Hong Kong, Tel: 2813-8568 / 33 Queen’s Road Central, Shop 126, Melbourne Plaza 1/F, Central, Tel: 2524-1988 / Shop 101, 1/F,  IN’S POINT, 530 Nathan Road, Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, Tel: 2780-9123 / Shop 203, 2/F, CKE Shopping Mall, 36 Nathan Road, TST, Kowloon, Tel: 2311-8070