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    large creme caramel with a glossy caramel top next to 2 vanilla beans
    From Paris · 30+ years cooking in France

    Master 5 Essential French Desserts

    Start with crème caramel

    Healthy French Cooking at Home

    Welcome to Mad about Macarons - your go-to for easy French recipes with a lighter touch and more flavour. From classic French desserts like crème caramel and macarons to simple savoury dishes, everything is designed to be approachable, reliable, and made confidently at home - just as we cook in France.

    French Recipes for This Season

    Start here: what we're cooking right now

    • round pie dish with baked strawberries and almonds in a custard
      Strawberry Clafoutis with Almond Flour
    • plate with eiffel tower and circle of caramel sauce around a shiny creme caramel
      French Crème Caramel (flan aux oeufs au caramel)
    • asparagus spears like sun rays on a tart
      Asparagus Puff Pastry Tart
    • pouring thick homemade hot chocolate from a jug
      French Hot Chocolate - How to Recreate The Parisian Love Potion
    Browse ALL Recipes

    Latest Spring Recipes

    • Scooped out Maltese orange filled with chopped strawberries and orange and served in a bowl of crushed ice
      Strawberries with Orange (Fraises à la Maltaise)
    • long-stemmed cocktail glasses filled with light and fluffy strawberry mousse topped with strawberries and served with French tuile cookies
      Strawberry Mousse (Mousse à la fraise)
    • blueberry clafoutis dessert with lemon and yellow edible pansies
      Blueberry Clafoutis with Lemon
    • bowls of bright green watercress soup
      Watercress Soup (Soupe au Cresson)
    All Spring recipes

    Macarons, Biscuits and Confections

    • plate of square cut flapjacks made with honey, fruit and nuts
      Healthy Flapjacks Recipe (Without Added Sugar)
    • raspberry macarons with a white chocolate ganache and raspberries, sitting on top of each other next to roses
      Raspberry Macarons (White Chocolate Ganache Filling)
    • close up of salted caramel macarons with a thick filling
      Salted Caramel Macarons
    • Lemon madeleines with a scalloped shape and hump on a plate served with a cup of tea
      How to Make Classic French Madeleines With Lemon
    More Teatime Recipes

    Healthy Mediterranean Food

    • Stirring a pot of corn polenta made creamy with butter and Parmesan cheese
      Creamy Corn Polenta with Parmesan
    • Moroccan handpainted bowl filled with a raw carrot salad topped with fresh mint, toasted nuts and seeds next to oranges and a Moroccan teapot
      Raw Carrot Salad Moroccan Style
    • baked sea bass fish on one baking sheet with potatoes, cherry tomatoes, lemon and herbs
      Whole Baked Sea Bass Recipe - Dinner on a Tray
    • baked tomato tart with french niçoise olives, basil and a green salad
      French Tomato Tart with Mustard - An Easy Summer Lunch from Provence
    Mediterranean Recipes

    Tarts and Pies

    Healthy French recipes - all lower in sugar.

    • vanilla egg tarts known as Pasteis de Nata from Portugal, scorched tops dusted with cinnamon
      Easy Portuguese Custard Tarts Recipe (Pastéis de Nata) & The Best in Paris
    • French tart au citron showing a glossy, clean cut slice topped with finely grated lemon and lime zest
      Tarte au Citron (French Lemon Tart)
    • saint-germain cake, an almond tart with rum French speciality
      French Almond Cake (Le Saint-Germain)
    • a slice out of a golden leek pie to see inside the crust
      French Leek Pie (Flamiche) - A Classic Vegetarian Recipe
    More Tarts

    Gluten-Free Recipes

    • holding a slice of raspberry clafoutis next to raspberries growing on bushes
      Raspberry Clafoutis (Light, Tangy French Dessert)
    • stack of thin buckwheat crepes showing typical hole texture and dark colour of flour
      Buckwheat Crepes (Galettes de sarrasin)
    • glass dish of chocolate mousse with cherries
      French Dark Chocolate Mousse (Mousse au Chocolat)
    • glass bowls of rice puddings topped with golden sultana raisins
      French Rice Pudding (Riz au lait)
    More Gluten-Free

    Egg Custard and Caramel Recipes

    • cracking in to a milk chocolate crème brûlée showing a delicious set custard topped with a thin caramelised crust - served with halved passionfruits
      Milk Chocolate Crème Brûlée Recipe
    • large pot with a baked rice pudding covered in a thick caramel skin, spooning out a creamy mixture underneath with cinnamon and a traditional French Fallue brioche
      Baked Rice Pudding Recipe (French Teurgoule)
    • asparagus lemon clafoutis slice
      White Asparagus Recipe: French Clafoutis with Lemon
    • glass with a layered gingerbread trifle with caramelised apples, jelly, caramel and topped with boozy whipped cream
      Gingerbread Trifle with Apple (Individual Trifles)
    More custards & caramel
    round crepe pancake perfectly cooked in a pan

    Breakfast

    Kir Royal cocktail in front of a French chateau

    Drinks

    spoonful of dark chocolate mousse next to a macaron

    Desserts

    thin brown pancake folded into a square with egg in centre, ham and cheese and side salad

    Lunches

    black pot with bubbling tomato and fish stew topped with chopped parsley

    Mains

    slice of cherry custard clafoutis dessert

    Picnics

    large choux bun filled with smoked salmon and runny cream with apple and dill

    Starters

    close up of caramel macarons with a thick filling

    Teatime

    Vegetarian Recipes

    • three buttery Scottish shortbread rounds made gluten free without xanthan gum served with a dram of Whisky
      Gluten Free Shortbread - Scottish Recipe with Oats
    • soft gluten free muffins made eggless with chia seeds, no added sugar and vegan - some with walnuts on top
      Gluten Free Banana Muffins
    • Christmas box with milk chocolate and hazelnut rochers with red ribbon in front of the decorated tree
      Milk Chocolate Hazelnut Rocher Truffles (Ferrero Style)
    • a frying pan of sliced Savoy cabbage leaves glistening with garlic and caraway seeds
      Sautéed Savoy Cabbage (Easy, Healthy)
    More Vegetarian

    Fish and Seafood Recipes

    • wraps standing upright on a black plate showing spirals of smoked salmon, cream cheese, greens and toasted seeds next to fresh parsley
      Gluten-Free Wraps with Buckwheat
    • large choux bun filled with smoked salmon and runny cream with apple and dill
      Savoury Choux Buns with Smoked Salmon (Choux au Saumon fumé)
    • white lion bowl of creamy fish soup surrounded by tartan and heather
      Cullen Skink - Traditional Scottish Smoked Haddock Soup
    • black pot with bubbling tomato and fish stew topped with chopped parsley
      French Monkfish Stew (Lotte à L'Américaine)
    More Fish Dishes
    BONJOUR & WELCOME

    Meet Jill

    Jill Colonna's Paris based food blog shares a healthy French lifestyle via easy recipes and local food guides.
    A Scottish-French home cook and author, Jill shares 33 years' culinary experience in Paris, cooking lighter meals with less sugar, more flavour.

    Created in 2010 with her 1st cookbook, Mad About Macarons has inspired both home cooks and professional bakers. Using local, seasonal ingredients, she proves that French cooking isn't all butter and cream!

    More About Jill
    Jill Colonna French cook and food writer in Paris

    French Market Guide

    What's in season this month? Choose seasonal, local fresh fruits & veg and discover fun facts, recipes - even popular French expressions using them!

    Market Guide
    • crates of green and white asparagus at the market
      Asparagus (Asperges)
    • punnets of strawberries
      French Strawberries (Fraises)
    • crate of Corsican clementines in a French market
      Clementine Oranges

    Best of Paris

    • boxes of various different French macarons from Paris to taste for the ultimate guide
      Best Macarons in Paris
    • biting into a lemon macaron at afternoon tea
      Guide to the Best Tea Rooms in Paris
    • chocolate shop window in Paris showing the typical French Easter traditions with bells, chicks, eggs and hens
      Easter Chocolate in Paris - Why do the French Have Bells?
    • rows of Parisian macarons by Pierre Hermé in Paris, showing Chado flavour of Matcha green tea and yuzu
      Guide to Macaron Day in Paris 2026
    • cafe with red tables and chairs outside with view on eiffel tower
      Best Bakeries Rue Saint-Dominique (Near the Eiffel Tower)
    • mug of French hot chocolate in front of a Paris skyline at sunset
      Best Hot Chocolate in Paris - Your Local Guide
    More Paris Addresses

    Food Travel in France from Paris

    • bustling café in Aix-en-Provence in the sunshine with people drinking coffee outside next to a plane tree
      What to Do in Aix-en-Provence: Food Guide to the French Capital of Calissons
    • chateau roof visit at Saint-Germain-en-Laye near Paris
      Saint-Germain-en-Laye Château Roof Visit
    • French baguette pointing to the chateau of Saint-Germain-en-Laye
      Visit Saint-Germain-en-Laye: Royal Market Town Near Paris
    • French pastry shop or pâtisserie in Saint-Germain-en-Laye near Paris
      Saint-Germain-en-Laye Chocolate and Pastry Self-Guided Tour
    More French Travel

    Watch the recipes

    Some of your favourite recipes are on video! From her Corsican Mother-in-law's mint omelette, join Jill to make healthy and easy French recipes. Come behind the scenes in our local bakery in Saint Germain-en-Laye to discover the best French Toast and coconut macaroons.

    All recipe videos
    YouTube player
    YouTube player
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    Portrait of Jill Colonna, French cookbook author in Paris
    Welcome

    Bonjour - I'm Jill

    Author and home cook in Paris. Scottish and French, I've spent 30+ years in Paris sharing lighter, flavourful recipes with less sugar. No fancy techniques - just real food we eat at home. Plus take away my travel tips to taste France like a local.

    Meet Jill

    Popular Recipes This Week

    • asparagus spears like sun rays on a tart
      Asparagus Puff Pastry Tart
    • black pot with bubbling tomato and fish stew topped with chopped parsley
      French Monkfish Stew (Lotte à L'Américaine)
    • glass bowls of rice puddings topped with golden sultana raisins
      French Rice Pudding (Riz au lait)
    • spoonful showing perfect texture of a chocolate mousse using 100 percent cacao
      Pure 100% Cacao Chocolate Mousse Recipe by Patrice Chapon

    Latest Posts

    • healthy banana oat muffins are packed with moist fruits
      Healthy Banana Oat Muffins (no sugar)
    • sliced banana coffee cake, showing a beautifully moist crumb and topped with walnuts
      Healthy Banana Bread with Coffee (Low Sugar Recipe)

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