“Best Macaron: Essence Bakery”
by Arizona Republic
What’s a macaron?
Well, it certainly isn’t a macaroon, those anvil-heavy globs of shredded coconut.
No, a macaron is a French confection: two meringue cookies, made out of almonds, sugar and eggs, sandwiching a creamy filling. At first bite, they seem ethereally airy, but as you progress you’ll note a delightfully soft chew. In the best versions, the final payoff is an intensely flavorful interior.
And Essence Bakery is the best you may ever have outside of Ladurée in Paris, where the macaron was invented a century ago. Pastry chef Eugenia Theodosopoulos trained at the famed Lenotre pastry school in Paris, and she must have been an A+ student.