Portland's Bakeries Unleashing Special Flavors for Macaron Day

Friday, March 20 is Macaron Day — not just in Portland, but around the world. Sure, it's also the first day of spring, but for the past 10 years or so, cities from Paris to New York have used this day created by macaron god Pierre Herme to celebrate the perfectly spring-y French macaron in all its pastel glory — and raise money for charity at the same time.

Finally, our own macaron god, Marius Pop at Nuvrei, has organized Portland's first annual Macaron Day celebration to raise money for Meals on Wheels People, with 15 bakeries participating and many coming up with special flavors to celebrate. Stop in, put $2 in the Meals on Wheels donation jar, and get a free macaron. And if you get to Nuvrei early, you can score one of the 100 free canvas tote bags with a map (below) and box to hold your macarons. Two random bags will contain $100 gift certificates to Nuvrei.

Here's the lineup of special flavors some bakeries are offering in addition to their usual flavors:

• Baker & Spice Cakery: almond filled with tart cherry compote
• Farina Bakery: orange-cardamom
• Hungry Heart: Turkish Coffee (cardamom and cinnamon dusted macaron with espresso ganache)
• Nuvrei: jasmine green tea, chamomile honey
• Papa Haydn East: "Early-Girl," a basil scented macaron filled with tomato gelée
• Papa Haydn West: "Good-Day Sunshine," a bright yellow coconut macaron filled with a light curry and coriander crème
• Petunia's Pies and Pastries: vegan and gluten-free strawberry macarons (they only make macarons a couple of times a year, and they are extremely popular)
• Pix Patisserie: foie gras

Portland Macaron Day Map