Bonjour
I’m Jill Colonna, mad about macarons and real French food.
My mission: to share our healthy lifestyle via fast, easy recipes, made from flavoursome fresh ingredients in order to avoid processed foods.
Here you get the genuine experience on a real-deal French food blog, as I share over 30 years practical knowledge of living full time with the language, culture and raising a French family.
Curious to know more? Then read on...
Who is Jill?
Food writer in Paris, photographer and recipe developer since October 2010 of MadAboutMacarons.com.
Published author of both 'Mad About Macarons' and 'Teatime in Paris'.
Grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland and trained as a classical musician but always obsessed with good food and wines (wine diploma WSET and Masters degree research project for a wine distributor). You’ll often see wine pairing suggestions on many savoury recipes. This blog – and now my videos playing flute – shares these passions together.
Both Scottish and French, we speak both French and English at home in the Paris area near Versailles (Saint-Germain-en-Laye) with Corsican husband, Antoine (since 1992) and our 2 girls.
Philosophy Behind le Blog
Recipes are easy and doable but they must taste good! For the best flavours, I focus on fresh ingredients with seasonal and local whenever possible to keep family meals budget friendly.
Make it fast with no packet mixes. Quick and easy recipes are made in 30 mins from scratch with a few simple ingredients.
The best French pastries are not that sweet! Too much sugar masks flavour. Our ultimate goal? Reduce unnecessary sugar to a maximum without compromising flavour.
No AI or bots. Each recipe has been individually developed, tried and tested then written and photographed only by Jill, to guarantee best results.
Fun stories behind the recipes. Previously a food tour guide in Paris, I tell the history and culture behind recipe classics, even fruit & veg expressions.
We don't obsessively count calories. Since adopting the French life, in over 30 years I've kept a steady weight without fad diets yet still enjoy wine, cheese and pastries – with modération! We stick to meal times and never snack. See our 1st 5 ways to eat like the French.
Discover what the French really eat at home.
MY INSPIRATION
French Desserts
I’m thankful to have met, collaborated and learned from such famous French pastry chefs, chocolatiers and bakers in France.
With our local baker in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, it has been a great joy to work together on the latest recipe videos, filming on their premises to share the real-deal French way of baking.
Likewise, it has been a huge honour to be invited to judge pâtisserie twice by pastry chef, chocolatier and friend, Christophe Roussel (prestigious amateur pastry challenge in La Baule) plus continue to exchange ideas regularly with French pastry chefs – some of whom have the coveted Meilleur Ouvrier de France, the highest accolade for French crafts wo/men.
Today my inspiration continues thanks to molecular food scientist, Raphaël Haumont. Together with starred chef, Thierry Marx they’ve created the French Centre for Culinary Innovation to work on the future of food. It’s an exciting time in France, finding new ways to encourage freshly made, healthy food at home to avoid processed foods.
WHAT'S ALL THE FUSS?
Why Mad about Macarons?
While working for 10 years in Paris’s chic 16th, I first tasted the best Parisian macarons. What was all the fuss about and why so expensive? It was a costly hobby tasting them, so I set about making my own.
After initial macaron failures at home, I developed my own step-by-step recipe. It worked and kept on working! So I shared the fun and confidence it built in my 1st recipe book, taking any beginners' fear out of making macarons. As a result, I’m thrilled to have inspired now professional macaron bakers who started with this book!
After the book's launch at the BBC Good Food Show (Scotland), this blog was created to prove that everyday French cooking at home is easy and healthy. Now I'm actually mad about macarons being too sweet so often prefer to make my own.
FAQ
Baking Questions and Tips
Have baking questions? They may already be answered on the FAQ page – including oven temperature conversions.
As in France, I weigh out ingredients - any reference to volume in cups is given as an approximate guide.
For most recipes like soups and stews, it’s not a problem if it’s a few grams out. But for French cakes,pastries, tarts and macarons, use precise gramsfor consistent, successful results.
For more, see why the French use digital scales in cooking and baking.
For my American readers, see the glossary of UK-US-French baking terms so we all speak the same language.
QUESTIONS?
Work with Jill
Any questions about my books or about this blog? Anything you’d like to see here or in my videos?
*I DO NOT accept guest posts*. Instead I'd love to hear from you if you need quality food or kitchen product reviews, French food/travel promotion or events that would be of interest to my francophile readers. Media file on request.
Jill Colonna's Macaron and Pastry Books
See book reviews. Both books are no longer in print but stay tuned for the new e-books coming out in 2025 by signing up to my exclusive waiting list.
THE MACARON COOKBOOK
How to Make Macarons (2010)
The 1st macaron recipe book published in the UK, this has inspired many now-professional bakers since 2010 (also in Dutch, Hungarian, Spanish.)
BEST OF FRENCH BAKING
Teatime in Paris (2015)
Make popular teacakes, tigrés, éclairs, choux buns, tartlets, mille-feuilles – with your guide to top Paris pâtisseries. A great value gift for bakers and Francophiles.
NEW E-BOOK
Coming Soon!
Your favourite recipes from the website plus new ones exclusively written in this new e-book.
Sign up below to be informed as soon as it comes out in early 2025!
Latest Reviews
Although there are so many recipes published on the internet, yours are the ones I come back to. I can tell you put a lot of work and a lot of yourself into them and I really appreciate their reliability, they’re all delicious too! - Alexandra
I’m no expert, but Jill’s recipes are so approachable and well-explained that they always make me feel like I’m just a step away from becoming one. - Danila
