topic Re: What?? in Community Chat

What??

JJK1954 — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 21:33:50 GMT

$80.00 for 36 macarons? Are they kidding???

Re: What??

RollTide2008 — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 21:33:06 GMT

They’re actually macarons which are insanely difficult to make. While it may be more than you want to spend, that’s not an outrageous price.

Re: What??

CelticCrafter — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 21:38:57 GMT

They are difficult to make and take a lot of time to make them.

Re: What??

rms1954 — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 21:45:32 GMT

Buy them elsewhere. You can probably find them cheaper in grocery store but guarantee they wouldn't be anywhere as good.

Re: What??

cherry — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 21:47:59 GMT

They are not cheap no matter where you buy them..

Re: What??

Janey2 — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 21:50:05 GMT

At La Madison du Macaron they are $3 each. They are worth every penny.

Re: What??

millieshops — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 22:09:01 GMT

@Janey2Thanks for that info. I've never bought them, never even seen them in my local bakeries - just in cooking magazines. But that price was in my mind.

At the one bakery that's not just supermarket near me, a black and white cookie costs $2.50 now - it's big and the cookie itself is quite good ----after I scrape off most of the black and white icing. So, $2.50 for what is essentially a sugar cookie!

Re: What??

cherry — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 22:11:13 GMT

The ingredients they are made from are expensive. They use almond meal ,instead of flour..price a pound of almonds , they are not cheap

Re: What??

Pook — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 22:45:46 GMT

@JJK1954 They are at least $3 each at the few bakeries that have them in my area. I made them once and they are not a quick mix and bake plus costly. Well worth it!

Re: What??

camelot — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 23:51:13 GMT

Why are macarons so expensive? - Because they are extremely tricky to make and many of their ingredients can be expensive and/or difficult to source. Macaron shells are made by folding almond flour (or some other nut flour) and confectioners sugar into a meringue (sugar and egg whites)

French Macarons

Yield: Makes 36 Sandwich Cookies

INGREDIENTS

10 egg whites (from large eggs), chilled
1 cup + 1 tbsp (9 oz) sugar
3 cups (12 oz) almond flour
3¾ cups (16 oz) powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp flavoring extract or food coloring

Re: What??

ILTH — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 23:01:45 GMT

They're about $2.50-4.50 each where I live. Little ones. So, that seems reasonable.

Trader Joe's has frozen ones for a lot less.

Re: What??

ValuSkr — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 23:49:25 GMT

The price seems reasonable. Wegmans sells twelve mini macarons (net weight 4 oz.) for $12.00. QVC sells 36 regular-sized macarons (net weight 2 lbs) for $80.00. Do the arithmetic - QVC is actually a better deal.

Re: What??

camelot — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 23:52:48 GMT

Re: What??

denisemb — Thu, 26 Sep 2019 00:00:30 GMT

I didn't know until recently that macaroons and macarons are two very different things. (What you learn from Hell's Kitchen!)

Never cared for macaroons, but now need to find a bakery where I can get a real macaron.

Re: What??

Mindy D — Thu, 26 Sep 2019 06:34:50 GMT

@cherry wrote:
The ingredients they are made from are expensive. They use almond meal ,instead of flour..price a pound of almonds , they are not cheap

I make chocolate cake with almond flour I make in my food processor. Expensive ingredient, yes, but $86?

Re: What??

Mindy D — Thu, 26 Sep 2019 06:40:43 GMT

@camelot wrote:
Why are macarons so expensive? - Because they are extremely tricky to make and many of their ingredients can be expensive and/or difficult to source. Macaron shells are made by folding almond flour (or some other nut flour) and confectioners sugar into a meringue (sugar and egg whites)

French Macarons
Yield: Makes 36 Sandwich Cookies
INGREDIENTS
10 egg whites (from large eggs), chilled
1 cup + 1 tbsp (9 oz) sugar
3 cups (12 oz) almond flour
3¾ cups (16 oz) powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp flavoring extract or food coloring

I can do this. I’ve been baking my whole life. I always make French confections. With a little practice this is not difficult. It’s like folding the egg whites into the chocolate when you make chocolate mousse. Once you learn how to fold in, you use a spatula to do this, so that the air isn’t lost, it becomes easy. This is really not that hard for an experienced baker.

Re: What??

cherry — Thu, 26 Sep 2019 09:37:29 GMT

You are also paying for labor @Mindy D ..When we had a farewell party at our church for our former pastor ,we paid $50 for each cake we bought..People don't work for free. Patisserie items are expensive. They are trained chefs, and are not the same as buying a cake mix and popping it into the oven

They have to pay for the rent of the building ,and the utilities, and the appliances , of where they are working. This is all figured into the finished product..Don't buy if you don't like the price..make your own

Re: What??

Bri369 — Thu, 26 Sep 2019 10:50:56 GMT

Macarons are difficult to make. Plus, each one has to be made by hand and the filling piped into the shells.

Around here, they can be at least $3 for each one. Whole Foods sells them individually, but they're not very good, IMO.

Re: What??

camelot — Thu, 26 Sep 2019 18:03:53 GMT