Back at Arnaud Larher for the Amateur Macaron Contest 2016

I haven’t even had time to tell you about the amateur macaron competition I took part in a few weeks months ago. It was on 6 February 2015. I absolutely loved the experience last year (read my article here), so I didn’t hesitate to enter again this year. The competition was held at Arnaud Larher’s, just like last time.

I knew I had to be on the ball for registration. In Paris, spots go in a matter of minutes. My email was ready to send at 7 p.m. sharp! I was accepted — I would be candidate number 10.

Last year I had made mango-jasmine macarons. This year, I wanted to pair hazelnut with yuzu. The idea came to me fairly quickly, but it took time and many attempts to perfect the recipe. Poor colleagues… 😛 Crushed hazelnuts on the shell? Caramelised hazelnuts inside? Bicoloured shells or not? I also had to learn to dose the yuzu — a first for me. In the end, I made brown and yellow bicoloured shells, a hazelnut-yuzu ganache and caramelised hazelnuts. But the recipe still has room for improvement 🙂

A quick peek at this year’s jury:

I dropped off my macarons at the lab with a small twinge of disappointment. The caramelised hazelnuts inside had slightly softened the shells. It was only slight, but it genuinely bothered me! In any case, the die was cast. But the deliberation wasn’t until around 4:15 p.m., so I had to fill my day in Paris. I took the opportunity to go and see a film at the cinema, then finally stopped in at Christophe Adam’s (I’ve written about it on the blog for those who are curious!). The day went by quickly in the end…

As last year, we knew nothing about the tasting taking place. A few photos were posted on the competition’s Facebook page. The chefs were tasting, deliberating, taking notes… My macarons were number 10.

There they are! 🙂

It was 4 p.m. and I was back in front of Arnaud Larher’s lab. There were already a few people waiting. Ten minutes later, we were invited inside. The stress was less intense than last year, as I knew how things would unfold. That said, seeing all those chefs gathered together is always just as impressive!

Leïla, last year’s winner, was on the jury this year, and I spotted Pascale, with whom I had already done a 750g workshop. Arnaud Larher took the floor to congratulate us all. The names were called one by one… The wait was long.

As last year, my name took a while to be called — you can imagine I had plenty of time to let myself hope just a little. A kiss on the cheek from the chef, a photo and a gift bag, and I was back in my seat, eager to hear the final verdict.

Then the top 3 macarons were announced. Here is the winning trio:

• N°1: Agathe BECQUART – Verbena, Lemon and Beetroot macaron
• N°2: David ZANNI – Sour cherry, thyme and citrus caviar pearl macaron
• N°3: Jenny SOUI – Gazelle horn macaron

The moment that follows is always a lovely one. Always a touch of shyness at first — it’s not easy to approach the chefs and chat with them, but they are very approachable. I was especially delighted to meet Philippe Rigollot, who is wonderfully kind.

It’s also an opportunity to chat with the other participants (and I wasn’t the only one entering for the second time — I recognised a few familiar faces) 😉 The buffet was copious and there were still plenty of macarons left. As last year, I left with a doggy bag (Arnaud Larher’s own macarons, as well as macarons from the other candidates). Thank you to the chef for the treats and to Silikomart for the mould (already tested ^_^).

In any case, I’ll say it again and again: it’s an incredible experience and everyone has a wonderful time. The chefs are approachable and we chat about macarons and other sweet treats. A true moment of sharing! Thank you once again to chef Arnaud Larher for welcoming us into his lab, to the other chefs and journalists present, and to the competition organisers. As for me, I still have room to improve, following the feedback I was given. It’s true that my ganache was slightly too runny (it wasn’t like that during my tests, grrr).

Hoping to be able to enter again next year 🙂

Photo credit: Concours macaron amateur