I believe I remember exactly when and why macarons started becoming a “craze” amongst Australian foodies… MasterChef. It all began when Adriano Zumbo walked into that MasterChef kitchen and challenged the contestants with a macaron tower. Before that very moment, a lot of us never even heard of macarons (nor did we know how to spell it correctly or pronounce it correctly!) let alone TASTE these little babies.

Today, macarons are everywhere. Zumbo’s Patisserie is still the place to go in Sydney. I’ve only been there once and had to be in a queue for at least 20 minutes to get to those macarons.

 I have since then tasted, blogged and took photos of lots of macarons, as well as feature a macaron recipe from a guest blogger. Don’t believe me? Here are the links:

Cafe Crema (Crema Fine Food) located at Blackburne Square, Berwick

Of course, most of my foodie indulgence adventures happened before I had my son Micah. 6 months ago my lifestyle completely changed. I have gone from a full-time marketing coordinator in a software company based in South Melbourne to a full-time mum based in Berwick. I don’t miss working and travelling to the city everyday, but I do miss the food – easy access to restaurants and cafes in the city where all the “hype” is and all my foodie friends on Twitter are congregating.

Which is why I was recently pleasantly surprised to know that in my very own local suburb deep in the heart of Berwick at Blackburne Square, there is a cafe that serves great coffee and delicious inhouse made, macarons. The lady who made my coffee when I went in for a visit was the friendliest person ever. I did not get the chance to meet Scott the owner, but apparently he is responsible for all of the lovely macarons they sell. I was recommended by a friend to try their Salted Caramel macarons but unfortunately they had sold out of those while I was there. Thankfully my friend went back later the same day and behold a freshly made batch of macarons were generously sponsored for my delightful tasting.

Salted Caramel Macaron

Delighted I was, it was just the right balance of sweetness and slight saltiness of the caramel. Perfect crunch on the outside very firm to touch but absolutely crumbles when you bite into them. The caramel filling was deliciously gooey and within seconds it was gone… (I love macarons but hate how quickly they disappear!)

Turkish Delight Macaron

I am usually not a huge fan of Turkish Delight but the Turkish Delight macaron was absolutely delicious!! I think I ended up liking this one even more than the Salted Caramel one… which is a big deal for me because I just wouldn’t have even bothered getting them if they weren’t given to me to try! It was a wonderful surprise, and I will definitely go back for more.

The other flavours were Banana, Blueberry, Chocolate Orange and Mint – and they all had great distinct flavours in them. You can definitely tell which is which, and that’s when you know it was well made. There’s nothing worse than tasting something and not being able to specifically pinpoint the actual flavour because it’s not strong enough to tell! I also loved the balance of sweetness in each macaron – it was just right – I really don’t like macarons that are overly sweet it makes you sick. These were all just the right amount of sweet.

Because (Cafe) Crema Fine Food is just a local cafe in Berwick, these guys don’t really have a strong online presence. They do have a Facebook Page although not quite active and they are located at 14 Blackburne Square, Berwick VIC.