Why Are Macarons So Expensive?

Macarons are popular among dessert lovers owing to their delightful flavors and colors. Macaron shells, made with almond flour and meringue, are complemented by a variety of melt-in-your-mouth fillings. Macaron fillings include jam, cream cheese, buttercream, curd, chocolate, and jelly, making it easy to create different textures and flavors. No doubt, this chic treat brings a bit of sweet sophistication to the table.  

Here in this post, we’ll discuss why these delicacies are so expensive.

Macarons are made with the view to create a perfect product with a visual appeal. It requires a careful selection of top-quality ingredients, precise baking techniques, skilled filling, proper piping, and moisture protection. While it may cost just $0.18 if you are baking them at home, macarons made by reputed and experienced bakeries can set you back up to $4 per cookie. Here are some reasons that contribute to a hefty price tag:

Costly ingredients

Almond flour

Macarons are made of finely ground almond flour, egg whites, and sugar. Almond flour is expensive as compared to other flours. Due to a severe shortage of rainfall in California, which produces 82 percent of the global almond crop, the cost of almonds is now at an all-time high.

Almond flour is finer and made from blanched almonds (no skin) as against the almond meal that is usually less fine. Almond flour ensures that the macarons are smooth and bump-free.

Egg Whites

Most bakers prefer using aged egg whites to create a more stable meringue for baking macarons. Egg whites are kept in the refrigerator for a minimum of one day to relax the proteins inside the whites, thereby creating more volume while whipping. Not using aged egg whites will deliver a poor meringue. Aged egg whites produce good macaron shells.

Flavoring

Bakers use flavorings such as gingerbread, vanilla, Boston creme pie, fruity pebbles, caramel, red velvet, Neapolitan, creamsicle, frosted flakes, cookies and cream, cheesecake, Nutella, tiramisu, Nanaimo bar, and cinnamon toast crunch. And it doesn’t come cheap.

Preparing macarons is a time-consuming process

To make perfect macarons, one needs patience. Bakers consider this factor when pricing their macarons. In total, it takes around two hours and 30 minutes. It takes half an hour of preparation, over an hour of waiting, ten minutes of cooking, thirty minutes of cooling, and fifteen minutes of filling and sandwiching.

Requires a high level of expertise

Not every pastry chef is trained to make this delicate treat. For instance, under-mixed batter causes grainy shells with nipples. If the baking sheet is not tapped right after piping, the macarons can crack. Similarly, if the shells are not rested long enough or the environment is too humid, the shells don’t develop good skin. Moreover, if the batter is too wet, macarons don’t develop those ruffled feet.

About Macaron Queen

We make dozens of delectable macaron flavors, including red velvet, key lime, champagne, french macarons Paris, and french raspberry. Our macarons are said to taste better than the originals from France. What started as a personal passion for making savory, edible treasures for close friends and family quickly became a fast-growing business. We now make these treats for private parties, celebrities, fashion spreads, music videos, and movie sets.

You can reach out to us at (908) 867-8336. You can also fill our online contact form here.