Didsbury Farmers Market and Macaroons!

We were so impressed with the Farmers Market in Didsbury last month we decided we would go back again this month. The market is held every 2nd Saturday of the month in the grounds of Didsbury library. Its quite a small affair but is lovely to look round with a good selection of stalls...there were even some different ones this time too.

This Saturday I headed straight to the stall of The Dish Ran Away with the Spoon...I love their cakes very much and was very impressed with them last time...(see Oreo blog post!). This month we went for a banoffee cupcake, chocolate brownie, a nutty raspberry brownie...I cant quite remember what was in but it was lovely and buttery...yum, and a snickers rocky road. All very good and were eaten pretty much straight away...oops! I was even more excited to hear that they are due to open a shop in Didsbury in the very near future. Me and karl will definitely be taking a few trips there!

Another stall that impressed me this weekend was The English Rose Bakery stall which specialises in making gorgeous macaroons. The stall wasn’t there the last time we visited the market but their display of different brightly coloured macaroons in big glass jars really caught my eye as I walked past. I had to go back for another look! And when Karl offered to buy me a box as a treat..well how could I say no?? Although at first I did think these little macaroons were slightly pricey at £7 for 6 macaroons by the time I had polished the lot off later I was left wanting more...definitely worth every penny!

Flavours available included the signature English rose, caramel, vanilla, elderflower, lemon, chocolate, blackcurrant and cinnamon but after much deliberation I went for chocolate, lemon, vanilla, cinnamon, caramel and rose. The macaroons came in a lovely little cream box with the bakery’s logo printed on it....very cute. I managed to wait until I got home to have a peek inside the box...see the piccy below for the cuteness that greeted me when I opened the box.. dont they just look so tempting!

I decided to try the caramel one first. I had never had a macaroon before ... only those cheapo ones from supermarkets when I was little and well they dont count..they’re not even in the same league as this type of macaroon! The English Rose Bakery gives a description of what the macaroons should be like....

“The delicate, crisp outer shell of the macaroon protects a soft inner core of gooey almond meringue and to add to the pleasure two halves are sandwiched together with a sumptuous ganache, cream or jam”

Never had a description been so spot on...from the first bite of the caramel macaroon I was hooked..I had to have another. I went for the chocolate one...again...gorgeous! Over the course of about an hour and a half I worked my way through all 6 and not one flavour disappointed. I think my favourites were the caramel and the lemon. ..the lemon one tasted just like lemon curd..mmmm!

I just hope the stall is there next month..I need my macaroon fix. Until then..I may have to order a book from good ol' amazon to have a go at making these tasty little morsels for myself!