50p
An Afternoon of Macaron Mania
After researching and learning about macarons and their complex preparation in Mme. Hall’s French 12 class, seven classmates and I departed Brentwood on October 18, 2022, for a highly anticipated and fun-filled afternoon in Victoria, specifically, at Bon Macaron Patisserie.
Mme. Hall has done this field trip with her French 12 class for the past few years, excluding the COVID year. “It’s a way for the students to get outside the walls of Brentwood, have a good time, and learn while doing so!” she says.
As soon as we loaded onto the bus at Crooks Hall, excitement filled the air, as we talked about our plan of action, namely what flavours we wanted to make and taste.
Once we arrived at the charming Bon Macaron Patisserie with its eye-catching decor, eight faces, actually nine including Mme. Hall, lit up in awe at the brightly coloured and intricately decorated mountain of macarons that lay before us; we were speechless. As our eyes feasted upon the display, we were greeted by one of the French co-owners of the shop, Yann Fougere. Yann, fully aware of the learning opportunity, along with Mme. Hall, assiduously spoke in French every moment of the afternoon and encouraged us to as well.
After picking our final flavours with great difficulty, we headed to the kitchen in the back of the shop, put on our Bon Macaron aprons and began our macaron-making adventure!
Macarons are made of two meringue shells, consisting of almond flour and meringue with a flavoured filling in the middle, commonly, buttercream. We began this process, but instead of making one big batch of one flavour, we divvied up and each made a specific flavour. Yann gave us step-by-step instructions, explaining the complicated process in full detail, yet somehow he made macaron-making seem so simple.
Smiling and laughing each step of the way, we gently folded our almond batter and Italian meringue together, adding the desired colour, and then proceeded to pipe them more or less within a circular stencil on the baking tray. As we waited for our perfect little pastries to bake, Yann treated us to some champagne flutes filled with juice and a selection of some of the more uniquely flavoured macarons, including tomato-basil, blue cheese, truffle pink salt and my favourite, goat cheese, honey, and beetroot. Let’s just say, we were truly getting the full experience!
When our pastries were out of the oven, we began the filling-making process. This is when we added our chosen flavours, using ingredients like lavender, pistachio butter, champagne reduction, and more. After putting the various components together, our macarons were officially finished. All we had to do now was divide up our creations into beautiful bakery boxes to take home. All in all, each of us had a total of about 50 macarons of eight different flavours. That’s not all we had to show for our efforts, however, Yann also gifted us with a Bon Macaron Patisserie certificate and a copy of his secret recipe.
We said our thank yous and goodbyes and as soon as we left the quaint shop, we already missed it.
Denzy J, Mack ‘23, spoke for all of us when she exclaimed, “I just want to go back in and do it all over again!”
Thank you to Mme. Hall for organizing this field trip and giving us such a wonderful experience, and thank you to Yann and Bon Macaron Patisserie for allowing us to take over your kitchen for a day, and, of course, for the decadent macarons!
Lucy M, Mackenzie ‘23.
Mme. Hall has done this field trip with her French 12 class for the past few years, excluding the COVID year. “It’s a way for the students to get outside the walls of Brentwood, have a good time, and learn while doing so!” she says.
As soon as we loaded onto the bus at Crooks Hall, excitement filled the air, as we talked about our plan of action, namely what flavours we wanted to make and taste.
Once we arrived at the charming Bon Macaron Patisserie with its eye-catching decor, eight faces, actually nine including Mme. Hall, lit up in awe at the brightly coloured and intricately decorated mountain of macarons that lay before us; we were speechless. As our eyes feasted upon the display, we were greeted by one of the French co-owners of the shop, Yann Fougere. Yann, fully aware of the learning opportunity, along with Mme. Hall, assiduously spoke in French every moment of the afternoon and encouraged us to as well.
After picking our final flavours with great difficulty, we headed to the kitchen in the back of the shop, put on our Bon Macaron aprons and began our macaron-making adventure!
Macarons are made of two meringue shells, consisting of almond flour and meringue with a flavoured filling in the middle, commonly, buttercream. We began this process, but instead of making one big batch of one flavour, we divvied up and each made a specific flavour. Yann gave us step-by-step instructions, explaining the complicated process in full detail, yet somehow he made macaron-making seem so simple.
Smiling and laughing each step of the way, we gently folded our almond batter and Italian meringue together, adding the desired colour, and then proceeded to pipe them more or less within a circular stencil on the baking tray. As we waited for our perfect little pastries to bake, Yann treated us to some champagne flutes filled with juice and a selection of some of the more uniquely flavoured macarons, including tomato-basil, blue cheese, truffle pink salt and my favourite, goat cheese, honey, and beetroot. Let’s just say, we were truly getting the full experience!
When our pastries were out of the oven, we began the filling-making process. This is when we added our chosen flavours, using ingredients like lavender, pistachio butter, champagne reduction, and more. After putting the various components together, our macarons were officially finished. All we had to do now was divide up our creations into beautiful bakery boxes to take home. All in all, each of us had a total of about 50 macarons of eight different flavours. That’s not all we had to show for our efforts, however, Yann also gifted us with a Bon Macaron Patisserie certificate and a copy of his secret recipe.
We said our thank yous and goodbyes and as soon as we left the quaint shop, we already missed it.
Denzy J, Mack ‘23, spoke for all of us when she exclaimed, “I just want to go back in and do it all over again!”
Thank you to Mme. Hall for organizing this field trip and giving us such a wonderful experience, and thank you to Yann and Bon Macaron Patisserie for allowing us to take over your kitchen for a day, and, of course, for the decadent macarons!
Lucy M, Mackenzie ‘23.