I have a dreadful case of sweet tooth and am pretty partial to meringue and almonds, so it will come as no surprise that along with almond croissants,  I love a good macaron. That light crispy shell encasing a sweet, sticky filling… they’re like little mouthfuls of joy. And with the variety of flavours available, you could have your own little macaron buffet (why is no one doing macaron buffets?!).

I spotted SaraO Macarons popping up at local farmers markets, so was rather keen to get in touch. The lady behind the dainty little delights is Sara Balmaseda, who fell in love with patisserie shops and macarons while living in Lyon. After deciding to bake a batch of macarons as a challenge, Sara started getting regular requests for friends dinner parties. Now living in Oxfordshire, the demand for Sara’s macarons has grown and she’s now selling a huge variety of flavours through farmers markets and her website.

I’ve bought two large selection bags of Sara’s macarons so far and am ready to organise a dinner party just so I can try some of her more unusual flavours as canapés – chorizo or goats cheese & herb anyone?

Classic flavours like pistachio, rose, vanilla, lemon, hazelnut and blueberry are all there, alongside less common flavours like salted butter (so good, think freshly buttered white toast), black sesame seed and matcha green tea.

Sara’s personal favourite is black sesame seed, and asked what it takes to make the perfect macaron her answer was that every step and ingredient is important. After making in excess of 25,000 macarons, Sara still has the occasional failed batch. “Sometimes I thought it was the egg whites (not old enough), some other times I blamed the almonds (maybe too oily or wet), and in other occasions you do one turn more than need it when doing the mixture, and they’ll be flat.” Sara has done a lot of research, playing with the ingredients and factors that can make a good or bad macarons, but finally concludes “all the factors are important. If I have to choose one factor, I would say a very firmly whisked egg whites, but, still, with that if you work too long in the mixture, it will be to liquid and the shells won’t grow in the oven.”

Given the lengths Sara goes to in making the perfect macaron, I think I’ll forget trying to make some and stick to buying hers!

Full list of SaraO Macaron Flavours:

• Chocolate-Vanilla
• Vanilla
• Salted Butter
• Raspberry-Chocolate
• Blueberry
• Blackcurrant
• Earl Grey Tea
• Matcha Green Tea
• Coffee
• Coffee-Chocolate
• Orange-ginger-chocolate
• Mint-Chocolate
• Lemon
• Cinnamon-Lemon
• Rose
• Black sesame seeds
• Mango
• Green Apple
• Hazelnut-Nutella
• Coconut
• Pistachio

Savouries options available by order for events:

• Tomato and basil with Provence herbs
• Goat cheese and fresh herbs
• Chorizo
• Salmon

Where to buy:

You can find SaraO Macarons at farmers’ markets during summer months, or you can order directly from Sara throughout the year. Definitely worth checking out if you haven’t done so already.

Website:  sarao.co.uk
Email:      sara@sarao.co.uk
Phone:     07722 490185