THEY seem to be everywhere - colourful, round cream-filled sandwich cookies with egg shell-thin crusts and soft chewy centres.

French macarons are the latest food fad here, popping up everywhere from hotel pastry counters such as Royal Plaza on Scotts' Gourmet Carousel to recently opened patisserie Centre Ps in Guan Chuan Street.

And these jewel-tone confections come in flavours that run the gamut from chocolate coriander and salty caramel to bergamot and champagne.

Macarons have been available here as early as the mid-1990s, when they were an offering on the afternoon tea menu at the Four Seasons Hotel. Then patisseries such as the Bakerzin chain began offering them in 2002.

Chef Pang Kok Keong, 32, of Canele, a French patisserie, says response to its macarons was 'lukewarm' at first with 'fewer than 1,000 pieces sold a month'.

Today, it sells more than 6,000 macarons monthly.

Chef Steven Ong, 39, of Centre Ps, who sells about 4,000 macarons a month, attributes their popularity to 'well-travelled and well-read Singaporeans who are increasingly aware of the famous French cookie'.

For housewife Evangeline Teo, 28, the cookie's dainty looks, subtle sweetness and light texture got her hooked and she has been buying them fortnightly the last two months.

The confection is in such hot demand here that businesses have been ordering them as corporate gifts.

Ms Lee Ai Ming, 36, owner of dessert shop Gobi in Katong Mall and The Central, says macarons are also popular gifts at cosmetic and fragrance product launches.

She has received requests to produce them in yummy shades that complement new eyeshadow lines and flavours that evoke scents in perfumes, such as apricot macarons for the launch last year of Vera Wang's Princess because the fruit is an ingredient in the fragrance.

These French-style treats, however, are not to be confused with the Italian, Jewish or Swiss macaroons.

In general, macaroons refer to confections made using almond, egg white and sugar. They are said to originate from 14th-century Italy, although the exact source and circumstance of their creation remains unclear.

The Parisian cookie, spelled in French with a single 'o', was created at the beginning of the 20th century.

It has since gained cult status in France. Lines of customers queuing for macarons are a common sight at stores such as Pierre Herme, which specialises in macarons and introduces new flavours twice a year.

They are made by folding ground almond powder and sugar into whipped egg-white meringue. The mixture is then piped onto a baking tray and allowed to air dry before baking. A cream filling is then piped between two dome-shaped macaroon shells.

Those who sell them say the current fixation with the confection is not a craze.

Chef Pang says: 'We're not talking pork floss buns but a food item that has a long tradition, so the appreciation for macarons is likely to grow and stay.'

Parisian Macaron (main head picture)

Home bakers know this is difficult to bake. But the trick, Chef Pang Kok Keong of patisserie Canele says, lies in mastering the technique of folding the meringue, a whipped egg white and sugar mixture, into ground almonds and sugar. If you under-fold the mixture, the macaron shell will be too raised. If you over-fold it, the shell will not hold its dome shape. These cookies cost $1.50 to $3 a piece at various outlets, including Canele, Bakerzin and Gobi.

Italian Amaretto

Unlike most other macaroons, this version does not involve making a meringue. The ground almonds, sugar and egg whites are mixed together at one go and the batter is then shaped and baked. Get them at the newly opened Italian pastry store Dolci, 43 Jalan Merah Saga, 01-68, at $8.10 for 100g.

Coconut Macaroon

This meringue cookie contains coconut shreds. Popularised in North America, it is usually a non-meringue pastry that veers towards a soft, moist and chewy texture. Get them at Da Paolo Gastronomia, with outlets in Great World City, Cluny Court and Holland Village at $7.50 for a five- to six-piece packet.

Brutti Ma Buoni

The Italian name for this pastry means 'ugly but good'. A variant of Italian macaroons, a meringue is folded into crushed almonds rather than finely ground almonds. This lends the baked cookie greater textural crunch and a more pronounced almond flavour. From Dolci at $8.10 for 100g.