Butter Avenue - Hi there, could you sound any more delicious?

So this past Friday I had decided that I was not going to hide out in the a/c, but was actually going to venture out into the city to do some "research" for the blog. I had read about this place a while back, but had never actually gone. The place I speak of is a patisserie and cafe called Butter Avenue.

(Adorable box that I am having issues with throwing out)

(Front of the cafe)

This amazing little cafe/patisserie is located on Yonge just a bit north of Lawrence. Their specialty seems to be the macaron (say it with a french accent), and no I did not spell that wrong, it really is just with one "O" (well some of you may already know that, but I just learned that today for my ever-wise co-worker and food confidant B). Macaroon (what I grew up with, and knew and loved), is the coconut baked good, while macaron (even my spell check has no idea what it is) is the french almond meringue baked good. So you can imagine my confusion the first time I was offered a macaron and there was no coconut to be found. So now that we have that figured out (or at least I finally do), let us continue on to the review.

(Fancy display in the front window, totally would of had this at my wedding)

You will know you are at Butter Avenue when you see the big macaron cake display. It's so inviting, how could you not want to go in.

(Display case, so many pretty colours!)

Walking into the cafe (especially on a hot Toronto summer day), is like stepping into heaven. No, really, it's pristine white walls, tables and chairs with the gold accents and the nice cool air is just heavenly (and I haven't even gotten to the best part yet!), and then your eyes catch on the rainbow coloured little clouds of deliciousness (if this was heaven, I would be totally ok with that). The display case is filled with all sorts of interesting flavours of macarons from matcha, to earl grey, to lavender and everything in between. Check out their website Butter Avenue for more info on flavours and other goodies they have (yes they do have other things, but I was so mesmerized by the macarons that I really didn't notice the other treats on hand)

(Fancy paper bag you get to carry your treats home, if they make it home)

So after I managed to make my selection (6 for $13.50, yes a bit expensive, but making a good macaron is no easy task), and after a few other stops (The Rolling Pin and Burger's Priest, don't worry I have posts about them coming up) I headed home to bask in my food hunting glory.

(Aerial shot of the beauties!)

Above are my little puffy clouds of sweetness; from left to right they are: Caramel Macchiato, White Chocolate Strawberry, Sea Salt Caramel, Lavender, Double Chocolate and Raspberry. Now I am no macaron (I really love saying that word) aficionado, so naturally I Googled what makes a good macaron, and man are there some very passionate (some a little scary, but I love the passion) macaron lovers out there. So from what I could gather a good macaron should have a delicate crust and feet (the little ridges around the edges) and when you bite into them they should shatter, but not crumble away, they should be moist, not overly chewy and no big air bubbles, oh and the filling shouldn't ooze out everywhere. They also shouldn't be too sweet or big. Of course if I am completely wrong, or missed something, do not hesitate to correct me.  Below is a shot of a single macaron, I took it to show the detail of the stripes, which I can't imagine is easy to do.

(Caramel Macchiato, look at those pretty stripes)

After I armed myself with the knowledge of a good macaron I dug in. Going by the above criteria I gotta say these are some pretty excellent macarons. A nice size, the crust is very delicate, so there was just a little give when I bit into it, and then Igot to the moist center and the ganache filling. It did shatter when I bit into it, but it didn't fall to pieces and the filling stayed put. As for the flavours, the white chocolate strawberry was my favourite. It had the creamy ganache but also a jam right in the center and the flavour of the strawberry was so vibrant and then mixed with the smooth creamy white chocolate ganache it really tasted like biting into a chocolate dipped strawberry. The lavender was interesting, but a good interesting, it was flowery, but not in a gross perfumy way, in a very delicate sweet way. Sea salt caramel tasted just like you would expect, smooth caramel with a hit of salt (salty and sweet such a great combo). The caramel macchiato, was also very good, not over powering with the coffee flavour, it was just a small hit of coffee and then caramel flavour. And for the double chocolate, it was good, but probably my least favourite, which is shocking to me (I LOVE chocolate), I guess after trying all the others and taking my palate on a ride through flavour town it was just a bit too "normal" (still good, not complaining, but I would go for a different flavour next time). All in all they were excellent, none of the flavours were over-powering, they were all balanced nicely. I think for such an elegant cookie, you can't have anything that is too strong in taste. I will definitely be going back, probably more for a special occasion treat (Oh who am I kidding I'll be there next week, but hey getting through a work week is a special occasion). I can now say I am a lover of the macaron (did I mention I love saying that word) You guessed it, this place get my seal of approval 5/5!

Mangez bien mes amis!