Faq

What are the equivalent UK cooking terms in the US?

Take a look at this handy UK/US cooking term glossary.

I’m a Bookshop / Trade customer. How do I order your books?

Contact our UK distributors at BookSource: for orders or enquiries Tel: +44 (0) 845 370 0067
or via Gardeners Books Wholesalers
Distributor for USA/Canada: Interlink Publishing

In France, the books are distributed by OLF via Relay H.

Otherwise contact the publisher, Waverley Books [email protected].

Who do I contact for Press/Media queries re the books?

Please email Liz Small at Waverley Books: liz(at)waverley-books.co.uk

Do you demonstrate how to make macarons?

I do give the occasional workshop. If you’re interested, just drop me a line via my social media buttons on the site or the contact form.
Otherwise, I do chocolate and pastry walks in Paris with Context Travel (online booking here.)

Check out this “Short Pleasure of Macarons” video I was invited to do for American Express – there’s no recipe here but it’s cute…
See blog post on my macaron demonstration at Aye Write’s Book Festival in Glasgow, March 2012. This was a demonstration without a kitchen. Yes, it was in a library!
See my live TV debut, making rose macarons on STV’s magazine programme, The Hour for a St Valentine’s Day Special. Please be kind, as this was live TV and I developed a petrified smile!

Can I share your recipe on my website or blog?

The recipes in both books are copyright and Waverley Books by law has the copyright and license to publish it. Waverley Books have asked that I don’t post my macaron and pâtisserie recipes on the website as they prefer you buy the books.

We would be delighted with your coverage of either book on your site. Please cite ”Mad About Macarons!” and/or “Teatime in Paris” (Waverley Books) and link up to MadAboutMacarons.com.
If you wish to use a recipe from either book, please contact Liz Small at Waverley Books (liz(at)waverley-books.co.uk) first for permission. Otherwise, if you wish to link to my other recipes on the site, then please just let me know and give me credit with Jill Colonna and “MadAboutMacarons.com”

Thank you, merci beaucoup!

One of your questions not answered here?

Contact me via the Contact Form or on any of my social media channels (best is Twitter @Jill_Colonna) where I’ll be happy to answer you as soon as I can!

Stockists

Almonds, Fillings & UK Brands

Baking Equipment, Moulds, Trays, Baking Paper, Mats

Cake Boxes and Gift Bags

Chocolate

Colouring, Edible Lustres

UK

US

uscakesupply.com
pastrychef.com
wilton.com
windsorcakecraft.co.uk (they ship house of sugar powdered colouring overseas)

If you prefer gel colourings, readers have highly recommended AmeriColor, then Sugarflair and Squires Kitchen which doesn’t fade as much as some other brands.

Jill’s note for Paris: I use POWDERED colourings and prefer those of DECO-RELIEF, often buying online from Meilleurduchef.com or directly from Mora or Deco Relief in Rue Montmartre in Paris (Update April 2017: A better store of Deco Relief is now also in the street parallel in Rue Montorgeuil). Now powdered colourings are easily available in smaller quantities by ScrapCooking – many boutiques sell them, including Du Bruit dans la Cuisine and the bigger stores (e.g. Alinéa and Zodio) but beware: the quality is not as good and you’ll find you need to use much more.

Cutters and Stencils

Flavourings & Extracts

Flavoured Syrups

France

In Paris, I normally stock up on piping bags, nozzles, scrapers, cake boxes, extracts & colourings from MORA, an institution here in Paris, open to professionals and home bakers on Rue Montmartre. Also check out DECO RELIEF on 6 rue Montmartre, 75001 Paris (just tell Djamel I sent you!) Also for equipment, BOVIDA is well known across the road from Mora, on the corner of rue Montmartre.

For cooking chocolate from Valhrona and ground almond flour, I love popping around the corner from there to G. DETOU (pronounced J’ai de tout which means ‘I have everything’), 58 rue Tiquetonne, 75002 Paris.

Online:

Meilleurduchef.com – great for powdered food colourings and extracts

CakeBake.fr

English Grocery in Paris (Epicerie Anglaise)

French Brands

Icing/Confectioner’s Sugar

Icing sugar (powdered or confectioner’s sugar) contains cornstarch or potato starch which is good. But note that TOO much can affect your macaron shells. In general, I would recommend good quality, organic brands (avoid non-branded cheaper supermarket versions). In France, normal brands such as Daddy and Beguin Say are great.

In the USA, stick to organic. Both Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s Organic Powdered Sugar are recommended by Give Me Some Sugar, my cookery school friends in Chicago.

Styrofoam Cones and Other Shapes

Misc. (puff pastry etc.)

Weight vs Volume

Please don’t start baking from the books without DIGITAL SCALES!

best way to measure ingredients for making pastry is by digital scales

Making macarons and French pastry is precise, so to achieve consistent successful results in your baking, measure your ingredients by WEIGHT, not volume.

American readers may be disappointed not to see measurements in cups. We’re not forgetting you. It’s just that, in my experience, cups are not an accurate enough measurement to enable you to make macarons – and many other French patisserie recipes – consistently well. I recommend you measure in grams and buy digital scales (they’re not expensive) to ensure that your measuring is as precise as it needs to be. If you’re used to ounces, with digital scales you can simply switch the button over to grams and we’re all talking the same sweet language.

For more details, see my post explaining why we use digital scales.

If any British cookery terms are puzzling, refer to our UK-US glossary of terms.

Oven temperature Conversions

Fan ºC	Fan ºF	Gas mark	Normal oven ºC	Normal oven ºF
120	250	1	140	280
130	270	2	150	300
140	280	2 ½	160	320
150	300	3	170	340
160	320	4	180	360
170	340	5	190	375
180	360	6	200	400
190	375	6 ½	210	410
200	400	7	220	425
210	410	8	230	450
220	425	8 ½	240	460
230	450	9	250	480

Quick reference guide for egg-whites