Laduree Sucre!

Ah Laduree, the creme dela creme of French patisseries, famous namely for their iconic macarons in powder pink, vibrant lilac and trademark pastel green hues. Just watching this video makes me weak at the knees! While I have not yet been lucky enough to taste any of their exquisite fancies (let alone visit France) my recently acquired Laduree cookbook Sucre containing many a whimsical, sugary treat is about as good as it gets. While some recipes are, lets say, beyond my capabilities and skills, the packaging, velvet cover, gold rimmed pages and outstanding photography of this little gem was enough to convince myself that I just had to have it. So much so, I bought the cookbook back in November as an early Christmas present-I'm rather impatient. But it wasn't until today that I decided to tackle my first desert, being a Strawberry tart, which I thought would be wonderful to have in the midst of a heated Australian summer.

As for festive baking (chocolate truffles, shortbread biscuits) I plan to do it all on Christmas Eve. I wish you all a very magical, dreamy, sugar coated Christmas!