Macarons from Sadaharu Aoki

I wish I could say I made these... but no, I didn't. Got them from Sadaharu Aoki's boutique in Tokyo.

Sadaharu Aoki. If you haven't heard of Sadaharu Aoki, you should now. Trained in the art of pâtisserie in both Japan and France, Sadaharu Aoki, broke through the ranks and made it big in France. Sadaharu Aoki applies the Japanese sense of detail and intricacy to his presentation and infuses traditional Japanese flavours like matcha, yuzu and adzuki beans to his line of pastries.

Stepping into his boutique in the swank Tokyo Midtown, the array of colours and intricately crafted pastries threw me into disorientation - I wasn't sure where to begin. I must have walked through the aisles a good 4-5 times, admiring the beautiful entrements, before stopping to consider what to buy. If only cost weren't a limitation to the dearly priced sweets, I'd have bought the whole store. Mind you, the box of 12 macarons which I finally decided on set me back $50.

It was definitely worth every penny though. Even the buttercream-filled ones, which I usually dislike, were lovely. Aaah... I still taste the wonderful morsels in my mouth.