National Macaron Day – March 20, 2025

History of National Macaron Day

The origin of macarons has been said to trace back to a French monastery in Cormery in the 8th century (791 B.C.). A Swiss encyclopedia documenting the history and origins of baking records that the first almond biscuits surfaced sometime around the 11th century under the support and protection of the first king of the Almoravid dynasty, Yusuf ibn Tashfin. According to this record, this period saw the almond cake Ghouryeba or Ghriba being served mainly during Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting. The almond biscuits then spread across cultures and civilizations as far as Europe.

Macarons have been produced since the 8th century A.D. during the Renaissance period. The then Queen of France, Catherine de Medici, had an Italian pastry and she had her chefs make them as part of the things she took with her to France in 1533 when she married King Henry II of France. The macaron as we know it today was created in 1791 in a convent near Cormery, France. The following year, in 1792, macarons became famous after two nuns seeking asylum during the French revolution, prepared and traded the macaron cookies in exchange for their housing. The nuns would later come to be known as the “Macaron Sisters”. At this time, macarons were prepared with special flavoring and fillings.

By the 1930s, macarons began to be served with the addition of jams and spices. The macaron as it is known today, which comprises two almond meringue discs with a layer of buttercream filling, or jam, was initially referred to as the “Paris macaron”. French journalist and author, Pierre Desfontaines, is occasionally credited with the creation of the macron since the early part of the 20th century. However, another baker, Claude Gerbet, also claims to have invented it (at some point in its history, the macaron was called the Gerbet cake). French macaron bakeries have become a thing in North America since the 2010s.