Vancouver Bakers Market - Review for Say See Bon Macaroons

**Recommendation: Matcha Macaroons

It's about time we've had a market dedicated to bakers and pastry chefs! This is Vancouver's first Bakers Market and I made it a point to attend the grand opening day. I need to be honest - I do personally know the people organizing the event, so I'm going to try my best and stay non-biased.

To my surprise the set up for this market is relatively small. I was expecting to see something to the degree of the Portobello fashion market, so I actually dedicated a couple hours to explore it. It took me about an hour to complete it and that's because I took my time revisiting each vendor, taking pictures and talking to people etc. It would take most people probably 20-30min tops to finish the whole thing so there's no need to make a day out of it. The style in which it was ran was more of a baker's fair, and baked goods ranged from professional macaroons to home baked cupcakes.

On the whole it is a great concept and I can't wait until the word spreads so it can grow faster. It's a great event to support local bakers and talent. It's on every Saturday for the month of October so if you have a couple hours on Saturday I recommend you to check it out. Heads up though, they sold out of baked goods by 2pm on the first Saturday it opened - so try to go earlier.

This blog is dedicated to my personal favourite at the market: Say See Bon Patisserie - Parisian Macaroons!!! I'd go again just for these!


**Matcha Macaroons 6/6It really depends on what you like - I prefer the Matcha macaroons over the chocolate ones...just because it's something different and new. This is so freaking good! It's a hand made Parisian macaroon. It's not the American coconut macaroon that you may have tried before. These ones are different, and I'd chose these over coconut ones. The Matcha macaroons have this creamy, matcha, white chocolate, caramel-like filling sandwiched between this almond/matcha flavoured meringue cookie. That was a mouthful and so are these! The meringue is made with quality ingredients so it doesn't taste like pure sugar or have a gritty texture as it dissolves. It's not a hard macaroon, but one that is lightly baked to perfection.
Just look at that texture! This macaroon/cookie is really light - it has a very thin and delicate crispy outer shell and then the inside is all chewy and delicious. There's no preservatives and it's made with organic egg whites and no flour so these macaroons are really airy and tender. When you take a bite your teeth sinks right into it and then it just melts away in your mouth. The middle is nice and soft and also chewy! Very cookie like. It has this nutty taste from the ground almonds/extract and yet it is still quite sweet from the white chocolate and sugar. It all balances out with the strong matcha flavour. The combination is just to die for! Truly amazing.


Chocolate Macaroons 5.5/6This is just as good as the matcha ones, but I appreciate the creativity of those ones more, so that's why I gave this one a 5.5 instead of a 6.
It's made with a good quality 70% cocoa/chocolate, which is the perfect percent for this macaroon. It's not too sweet or rich and it's not bitter either. It's a gourmet chocolaty treat!
Price
2 for $46 for $1112 for $22 (which doesn't make sense to me...?)