Macarons from Bohemien

It seems that the macaron movement is gaining momentum in Wellington; yesterday I popped into Bohemien during my lunch break to get a small treat to brighten up my Friday, and what did I see but an array of brightly coloured macarons just beckoning to me.

I am pretty familiar with their chocolates (thanks in large part to Mr Cake) so figured, although it was a chocolatey treat I had in mind, that macarons might now be on on the menu.

They had a pretty drool-worthy range of flavours, and though I am not a huge fan of very fakey-looking colours (and there is no denying that some of the airbrushing doesn't quite look the right colour for food) I definitely couldn't resist. I asked where they are made and was told they're made in the Bohemien kitchen in Hataitai.

I was probably about the most annoying customer ever, because I fluffed around for ages trying to decide, then wanted to know if they'd be packaged enough that I could get them home intact. The woman who served me very kindly packed them in tissue paper in a paper bag after placing them in their cellophane, so they were were well protected and made it home in perfect condition. Wonderful service!

The first we tried was the chilli one - it was filled with a lovely, bittersweet chocolate ganache and the chilli flavour was faint but it was delicious all the same. The macaron was very delicate, very fragile yet crunchy and chewy (perhaps not quite as chewy as I like but I still haven't worked out if that preference is just a result of the one I've made being less than perfect!).

Next on my plate was the raspberry flavour - I didn't rate this one too much - nothing wrong with it but it also wasn't remarkable. Maybe I'm too fussy. ;-)

The damson plum flavour was too alluring to pass by, and when I looked at the filling I was disappointed because it looked to be a plain buttercream - no colour which seemed odd for plum flavour. However, my faith was restored when I bit into it, and discovered that a thin rim of buttercream hid the jammy filling, which was deliciously fruity and definitely lived up to expectations.

Last but not least was the sea salt caramel flavour - and this definitely met and exceeded expectations. The filling was deliciously gooey caramel with a rich, full flavour. The salt wasn't very powerful but otherwise this was perfect. Both of us liked this one most, and I can say with confidence that I will have more of these as little treats at the end of the week - at $1.50 each they are much cheaper than the other macarons I've seen in Wellington, so a very affordable little morsel.



Bohemein is located at 109 Featherston Street, Wellington, ph 04 386 2974, or 35 Wairoa Road, Hataitai, ph 04 499 7913, www.bohemein.co.nz