Pink Rose Cakes

You may remember back in February I wrote about Mrs LGs addiction to Twitter. Not only does she like to chat to her Tweeps on-line but sometimes she gets to meet some of them too. Earlier this year she combined a shopping trip to Brighton with meeting Fay Millar who runs Pink Rose Cakes. Fay promised Mrs LGs a blog post and today she shares French Macarons with us. 

The Rise of the French Macaron 

Not so long ago if you mentioned macaroons to somebody it would conjure up an image of a thick almond-flavoured confection with rice paper stuck on the bottom. The rather more delicate French macaron (and yes I write it deliberately as the French would!) was something only seen across the Channel and rarely on British shores.

But recently these delectable shiny domes of almond meringue filled with flavoured ganaches have been gaining popularity in Blighty. As people increasingly look for something different from the standard three tiered white wedding cake, the once esoteric macaron has suddenly found its place as a chic and fashionable alternative.

It is a worthy rival to the much-vaunted cupcake, which though still extremely popular, sometimes lacks the delicate nature and sheer versatility of the macaron. The macaron begs to be experimented with, to be fun, to be different. A cacophony of colours, smells and decorations combine to give it its endless allure.

Great towers of multi-coloured macarons can be created in place of the traditional cake and they can be colour-coordinated to match bridal schemes with everything from rich dark chocolate to green pistachio or blue mint. And for those who still want some cake the tower can sit atop a single tiered cake decorated to match.

In addition, at a time when people are more conscious than ever about spending a lot on a wedding, macaron towers generally work out cheaper than a standard wedding cake - £150-£300 for a tower as opposed to £400 for the average three tier cake. Even if you still hanker after a white stacked cake blocked with fresh flowers you can still indulge your inner macaron gourmand by offering them as wedding favours to guests.

The only problem with macarons is they are a bugger to make and get right! They must have an egg shell-like shell but be soft like meringue inside, smooth across the top and have that all important little foot at the base.

At Pink Rose Cakes we have been practising religiously for the last few months and the number of batches that have cracked, spread, collapsed or generally gone awry (although they always still taste nice) doesn’t bear thinking about. However, we are planning to launch three different-sized towers soon and bring the le macaron Francais to Brighton.

To see more of Fay's creations visit her website, catch up with her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter. From traditional to creatively different Pink Rose Cakes will give your celebration a real WOW factor!