The trip to find one of the world's finest cookies just got reduced from a lengthy plane ride to a quick jaunt across town.
In late August, Kelly Toland opened the doors to her East Lansing bakery that specializes in French macarons. Located at 1133 E. Grand River Ave. next to Tasty Twist,
Le Bon Macaron carries up to a dozen kinds of the European meringue cookie made from sugar, egg whites, almonds, and loads and loads of butter.
"They're really light cookies," says bakery owner Kelly Toland. "They're very pretty, too, and aesthetically pleasing for parties or weddings or desserts."
Toland says a macaron consists of two crispy shells filled with a flavored butter cream center. Cookies come in a rainbow of colors and many of the flavorings used in the butter cream center come directly from France. Must-tries including salted caramel, chocolate peanut butter, jasmine, violet or poppy seed.
"It's always fun to pick out or recommend flavors for customers," says Toland. "We have boxes with a clear front that hold six or 12, so no matter how you arrange them, they always look really nice together."
The 250-square-foot Le Bon Macaron is primarily a retail space with a back area for baking. Up to 15 people can sit on an outdoor patio shared with next-door neighbor Bell's Pizza.
Toland got the idea to bring a little bit of Paris to East Lansing after a college study abroad program landed her in France. When she came back, she started and ran her first business—
A Piece O' Cake—for about seven years. She recently sold the business to open Le Bon Macaron.
Toland runs the bakery with her parents, Wendy and John Kobus. Her dad, she says, creates the macarons, starting nearly every morning at 5 a.m. to make shells, blend flavors and assemble the cookies.
"We've always baked and cooked together as a family," says Toland. "And since I was interested in food photography, one thing led to another. Cakes are a good creative outlet, and macarons are similar. Plus, they're very photogenic."
Source: Kelly Toland, Owner, Le Bon Macaron
Writer: Ann Kammerer, Development News Editor
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.