New Flavour: Chocolate Orange

We’re very pleased to offer you Chocolate Orange Macarons! These pretty orange macaron shells are filled with chocolate orange ganache and decorated with chocolate stripes.

The orange flavour got us thinking, funnily enough, about orangeries. Orangeries are the ancestors of modern green houses, and they are beeeeeautiful. They were first built in Renaissance Italy, not long after oranges themselves were introduced to Europe. There were essentially either a room or separate building that was dedicated to sheltering delicate citrus trees during the relatively harsh European winters. Originally a purely practical matter, they soon grew in status to become luxurious architectural elements that conveyed the prestige and wealth of their owners, and they protected a variety of exotic plants. According to Wikipedia, “Owners would conduct their guests there on tours of the garden to admire not only the fruits within but the architecture without. Often the orangery would contain fountains, grottos, and an area in which to entertain in inclement weather.” One of the most famous orangerie is the one at Versailles. Built in the 1680s (before the palace itself!) it is still in use today, housing over a thousand trees—primarily orange—which are moved outside in their wooden planters between May and October. Can you imagine a more perfect place to nibble your way through a box macarons—and maybe a bottle of something bubbly? 🙂

The orangerie at Versailles.

Inside the orangerie at Verisailles. More on The Finacial Times: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/a7eb3c84-5dc3-11e3-95bd-00144feabdc0.html Photo C. Christian Millet.

Orangerie at Chateau d’Enghien, Belgium. Etched engraving C. 1680. Romeyn de Hooghe.