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Lifestyle

How Dana’s Bakery Turned a French Classic into an American Favorite

This article is written by a student writer from the Spoon University at Syracuse chapter.

Featured in major news sources such as the New York Times, People, Seventeen, Buzzfeed, as well as the Today Show, Live with Kelly and Michael, Dana’s Bakery, based in New Jersey and just minutes away from New York City, has taken over the macaron scene with its unique and delicious renditions of the classic French dessert. For anyone that doesn’t know, a macaron is basically a French sandwich cookie with two meringue shells and a filling inside, which can consist of anything from frosting, to jelly or jam, to chocolate and Nutella. These treats are made all over the world, but in the United States, Dana’s Bakery is making the French treat an American favorite.

Before becoming a classically trained baker, Dana was a photo editor. She was drawn to the beauty and texture of the dessert but was surprised by how little variety of flavors there were, so the rest spawned from there. Established in 2012, Dana’s Bakery started out in a small kitchen located in New Jersey. She dreamed of creating amazing and sometimes hard-to-find treats for everyone to enjoy! Now, you can get these treats delivered to your door. So, macaron lovers unite.

Her goal is to make life exciting by sticking to a traditional technique, but creating fun and exciting flavors inspired by classic desserts and modern flavors. She says, “Life should be exciting, and so should your dessert!” That’s exactly what you get when you bite into one of these sweet treats: so much excitement!

Turning French into American

Since the Macaron is a classic French dessert, Dana’s bakery was faced with the challenge of sticking to traditional French flavors, or branching out and trying to create unique American flavors, which is exactly what they decided to do. They began to experiment by creating some more Americanized flavors to try and gather a stronger following and bring a name to their company. Most importantly, all of the flavors are kosher and gluten-free! 

Some Unique Flavors

Listed on their website, Dana’s Bakery creates some interesting, unique, and delicious flavors, inspired by desserts, sweets, holidays, and pop culture. The ones available to order at any time are listed below. All handmade fresh to order, the beauty of the process can clearly be seen and should definitely be appreciated. 

Birthday Cake

Key Lime Pie

Cafe Mocha

Strawberry Shortcake

Chocolate Molten

Cookie Dough

Cotton Candy

Fruity Cereal

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Orange Creamsicle

Red Velvet

S’mores

Champagne Celebration

They also feature a flavor of the month, either to resonate with a holiday or season, which can also be ordered after its month by special order. Some of these flavors have been:

Sour Gummy

Cinnamon French Toast

Boston Cream Pie

Candy Corn

Chocolate Covered Pretzel

White Chocolate Peppermint

Salted Caramel Cookie Dough

Pumpkin Spice

and so many more delicious, unique flavors. And, whatever you choose, you can’t choose wrong. 

Why You Should Love Macarons

As if the flavors and their story hasn’t convinced you enough, here is why you should love macarons. First off, they are gluten-free, so everyone can enjoy the sweet treat. They are a tiny indulgence, so you can pop a few in your mouth and feel satisfied, but not like you just ate a heavy dessert. And they are amazing.

Thank you to Dana’s Bakery for revolutionizing the sweet treat and turning a French classic into an American favorite. So how can you not love macarons now?

Elizabeth is a student at the S.I. Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse studying graphic design. She started baking at the age of 2 and has been obsessed with cooking shows ever since. She loves to write about and eat all food except bananas. Follow @elizabetheatss on Instagram to keep up with her food adventures.