Ladurée makes tens of thousands of macaroons in studios like this every day. The company sells its colorful cookies in 30 countries. It all began in Paris with a recipe to macaroons, which has not changed for over 130 years. Today we will look at how Ladurée has gone through the invention of modern macaroons to become part of a cake empire with a value estimated at a billion dollars.
There are currently over 110 Ladurée confectionery in over 50 cities around the world. They serve croissants and lots of other French pastries. The brand's hallmark is, however, a macaroon with a rainbow shade and Parisian style. It is so stylish that it costs about three dollars per item, which is a high price caused by expensive ingredients and a difficult baking process. It all starts with California almonds.
– We make external layers with almonds, which we grind ourselves with powdered sugar. Then we use Italian meringue, egg proteins and sugar syrup – says Guillaume Kern, the main confectioner in Ladurée.
Colorful macaroons have become an icon of Parisian luxury and a tourist attraction
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The recipe has not changed for 130 years. How are traditional macaroons created?
If you are buying a macaroon in one of the Ladurée international confectionery, it was made in Switzerland. Ladurée claims that macaroons are not frozen. Instead, they are cooled to a state that Ladurée calls a state of hibernation before they are sent all over the world. However, if you buy in a confectionery in Paris or another French city, these macaroons are made every day in the Morangis studio near Paris.
– Then they are baked for about 20 minutes. In addition, we prepare a filling, which can be jam, ganasz or caramel. We fill the macaroon with this filling. Then they rest for about eight to 24 hours to get a pleasant, soft consistency. Then we send them to stores – explains Guillaume.
Preparation of macaroons is carefully thought out
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The ideal macaroon has a crunchy outer layer, soft interior and the right amount of filling. If it is not perfect, it is thrown away.
In Ladurée we follow two stages. The first is to get a dough with an appropriate consistency. It is not very smooth or stiff, thanks to which the macaro is a perfectly round shape. Macaroons are not too big to be put in the boxes. The second stage is the maturation process in which we combine the filling with the shell, which has a pleasant consistency
– explains the confectioner.
In the confectionery studio Morangis, employees do 3200 macaroons a dayusing a recipe that has not changed since the cookie was invented at the end of the 19th century.
– You can't write it or explain it. This is the skill that our employees developed. They can look at the cake and determine if it is good or not. They can try and say that a specific macaro will be ready in two days – says Guillaume
Ladurée like a luxurious fashion house. The marketing idea turned out to be a hit
What has changed is flavors. There are at least 20 basic flavors, including rose, pistachio and vanilla. Confectioners working in Ladurée, such as Guillaume, are constantly developing new flavors. Sometimes they do it based on seasons, as in the case of rose and cardamom flavors for Mother's Day in Paris, and at other times based on location, as in the case of cannabis and vegan macaroons sold in Los Angeles.
Louis Ernest Ladurée founded his bakery at Rue Royale in Paris in 1862. However, it was his cousin, Pierre Desfontines, he created macaroons, which we know today, when in the 1890s he translated two almond meringues with chocolate Ganasz cream. Pierre's idea turned out to be a hit and was soon copied by confectioneries throughout the city.
The secret of ladurée macaroons is the recipe
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Only after 135 years, the first company making macaroons moved to another location in the Champs Elysees. This expansion began after the Ladurée family sold the Group Holder brand, owners of the Paul bakery network in the 1990s.
Group Holder made Ladurée confectioneries to be seen as high -class, imitating luxurious fashion houses. At the end of the 1990s, Ladurée introduced new macaroons flavors, adapted to the seasonal premieres of fashion lines. Then colorful cookies appeared next to Haute Couture in the French Elle and Vogue. Rebranding worked.
Suddenly Ladurée became a symbol of luxury, selling from 3,000 macaroons a day to 10,000. in 2002 Soon, culinary and travel bloggers began to write about macaroons. Ladurée has become for people a goal of travel compared to the Eiffel Tower. As the global influence of Ladurée spread among travelers and fashionistas, the same happened with macaroons.
Parisian confectionery Ladurée conquered the world of luxury
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In 2005, Ladurée opened its first international confectionery in London, and three years later another in Japan. In the United States The appearance of macaroons in the movie “Maria Antonina” and the series “Gossip” popularized cookies.
In 2011, Ladurée opened her first American confectionery at Madison Avenue in New York. Currently, Ladurée is a leading supplier of famous French macaroons, which has helped the mother conglomerate to achieve a billion dollars of revenues in 2018.
– We do them for our clients. When someone goes to Japan, he says what good things he didn't try. In Paris, they tell us the same. It's really touching – he says
