Gift Guide: Make-Your-Own French Macaron Sampler in Hayes Valley

By Christina Spittler Mon., Dec. 10 2012 at 10:30 AM

Categories: Gift Guide

Christina Spittler

The Christmas display at Chantal Guillon.

All through December, SFoodie is bringing you local gift ideas for the food obsessives in your life.

Did you know that there are four places to get beautiful French macarons within three blocks of each other in Hayes Valley? Are you looking for a gift for that friend that is obsessed with French macarons and/or Hayes Valley? Well, then a DIY Hayes Valley Macaron Sampler should do the trick.

Just take a short walk from Hayes and Octavia to Gough and Oak, and roughly $40 later, you'll have assembled the gift of 24 hand-selected Hayes Valley macarons from Miette, La Boulange, Chantal-Guillion, and Gourmet & More. Who knew making your own macaron sampler could be so quick and easy?

As far as the flavors go, Gourmet & More has a few holiday seasonals like eggnog, cranberry, chocolate mint, and gingerbread. Miette's got coffee and chocolate-orange. Chantal Guillon has the best selection of flavors overall, displayed in a small, tabletop, cardboard tree ... like a Christmas tree of macarons! Most of the stores have cute bags and boxes for the macarons, or you could get creative with a large box of your own.

Prices average out at around $10 for six macarons (Miette is $11.10, Chantal Guillon is $10.50, La Boulange is $9, and Gourmet & More is $8.95). So get on it, before the Hayes Valley Macaron Sampler becomes a thing that costs significantly more than your humble DIY gift. Your macaron-eating, Hayes Valley-loving friend will be so proud.

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