Cookies with an attitude: Macaron bakery brings classic European treat to Peoria

Walking into Voilà! Macarons, owner Diana Natale’s love of the sweet treat is evident.

Customers can find macaron-shaped lip balms, soaps and even a tote bag with a macaron-themed design. Decorative Swedish dishcloths highlight the pronunciation of the European cookie by placing “Macaron” and “Macaroff” side by side.

Of course, the shop’s main commodity is the macarons themselves. At Voilà! Macarons, customers can find classic flavors like chocolate or French vanilla, fruity flavors like watermelon and even booze-inspired flavors like Champagne or vodka.

Voilà! Macarons, located at 7316 N. University Street, opened to the public in May 2022. The shop is open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.

Initially, however, Natale said opening a brick-and-mortar business was not necessarily her plan.

“The goal was not to start at home, go through a pandemic, go to the farmer’s market and then have a shop, right?” Natale said. “It started out as a passion project — as something that could be something. I just didn't know exactly what it was.”

Natale’s love for the sweet treat began when she was a child in Europe. Eventually, she began baking macarons herself, and her passion grew into a small business during COVID-19.

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A cookie with an attitude

Natale lovingly refers to macarons as “a cookie with an attitude.” When she began baking the European cookie, she said she had to alter the recipe to account for the humidity in Illinois. Even now, Natale says there are days when she must let the macarons rest for longer due to the weather.

“I do believe they have that attitude. I belong to a lot of macaron groups,” Natale said. “The booklet of the failure and how to go about a failure of a macaron is as thick as the potential recipes.”

Despite the challenges involved with making the European treat, macarons have always been one of Natale’s favorite desserts.

Growing up in Stuttgart, Germany, Natale and her family were close to the border with France. So, she was able to do a lot of “taste testing” when it came to European desserts.

The macaron stood out to her above the rest. Natale said she is drawn to the macaron’s layers of texture and flavor. Macarons have delicate, yet crisp outer cookies and a soft, flavorful filling.

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The European cookie’s size also makes it a perfect treat, Natale says.

“I can have three macarons with my coffee and still don't feel bad about trying three different flavors because I didn't overindulge,” Natale said. “They're a couple bites of pleasure and they just have a very perfect, crunchy, chewy, softness to them that I love in a dessert.”

Room to grow

After Natale figured out the proper adjustments for baking macarons in a midwestern climate, she began to experiment with flavors. She said she would bake and share these new and unique flavors with friends and family in her COVID-19 bubble.

“We had a lot of fun flavors everybody voted on and we made it a little bit of a COVID fun game to figure out how it could look and not look,” Natale said.

Eventually, Natale said friends started asking her if they would be able to purchase macarons from her as a holiday treat. Easter was coming. With COVID-19 still gripping the nation and supply chain problems, people were having trouble finding desserts which would work for their family.

So, Natale began creating seasonal boxes of macarons. She expanded to boxes for birthdays, baby and wedding showers and other special occasions not long after.

With this growth in demand, Natale set up shop at a farmers market. People could pick up pre-ordered boxes or purchase a macaron to try.

“It was very successful. People were waiting, and I sold out pretty much every time I was in the farmers market, even an hour before closure,” Natale said, “but I didn't have the capacity or chance to bring more because it was out of (my) home kitchen.”

Farmers markets are not open year-round, and Natale was still receiving holiday and event orders.

“So, I was in need of a bigger kitchen. I knew that I could probably make it (at home). However, it'd be nicer to look into a commercial kitchen setting,” Natale said.

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Natale said working at a farmers market during the summer gave her the opportunity to make connections throughout Peoria’s small business community. With these connections, she was able to begin sharing a commercial kitchen space with a local charcuterie business.

The kitchen had gas ovens, however, which Natale said are less reliable temperature-wise than electric. Because of this, Natale said, “the cookie with an attitude seems to prefer the electric (ovens) too.”

So Natale began looking for her own shop. She eventually settled into the location on North University Street, turning the back of the space into her bakery. Even with the kitchen, the front had plenty of space and large windows which flooded the shop in natural light.

“I'm like well, we might as well just add a little bit of an outlet for all things macarons,” Natale said. “So, I've been working collaborating with a lot of local artists and people and makers and shakers, and we came up with a lot of fun all things macarons.”

Along with collaborating with local artists for Voilà! Macarons, Natale said local businesses have directed people her way when customers were looking for macarons. She said she has been incredibly grateful for all the support she has received from the business community and customers alike.

“I'm very happy where I am,” Natale said. “I feel like the store has been a beautiful outlet for a lot of my customers who are not planning a party or who are not planning a big event. They can just come in. They can try a couple things. They can figure out if this is for them or not.”

Connect with Cassidy Waigand by emailing her at CWaigand@gannett.com or by following her on Twitter at @justxaxwriter.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Voilà! Macarons bakery brings European cookie to Peoria