It was a trip to France three years ago that convinced Carly Wintschel to give up her job as an elementary school teacher and spend her time making macarons—the meringue-based confectionary with a sweet, creamy centre. When she returned to B.C., Wintschel turned the skills she had learned in a pastry class she took in France into her company Kitchening & Co. (previously known as Kitchening with Carly).

This year, Kitchening & Co. is one of several Metro Vancouver businesses taking part in Macaron Day—or Jour du Macaron—on Wednesday (March 20). The annual event was started by Parisian pastry chef Pierre Hermé in 1995. Over the years, Macaron Day has gained international recognition as a way to fundraise for local charities while enjoying delicious macarons.

For Macaron Day, Wintschel will be donating all proceeds from macaron sales to three Downtown Eastside organizations: the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre, Linwood House, and Mission Possible. Kitchening & Co. macarons can be ordered at the Macaron Day Vancouver website until midnight on Tuesday (March 19), and orders can be picked up at Urban Fare (1133 Alberni Street) or Edible Canada (1596 Johnston Street) between 3 and 6 p.m. on Wednesday. Kitchening & Co. macarons are sold by the dozen at a minimum donation of $10 (retail value $24). Unless specified, orders will include an assortment of nine current flavours, such as toasted coconut, espresso dark chocolate, and mandarin grapefruit.

Mount Pleasant’s French Made Baking (81 Kingsway Street) will also be participating. Similar to last year, customers who visit the shop on Wednesday will receive a macaron by donation. Owners David and Catherine Introligator, who moved to Vancouver from France four years ago, offer macarons with 20 different flavours of ganache filling, including salted butter caramel, raspberry with white chocolate, yuzu with dark chocolate, and rose water with litchi fruit and white chocolate. French Made Baking will be giving all donations and a portion of the day’s sales to B.C. Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Downtown Vancouver, Thierry Chocolate Patisserie Café (1059 Alberni Street) will be celebrating the event by offering a limited-edition macaron called “Cherry Blossom” ($1.95 each). The new spring-inspired flavour is a mixture of honeybush tea, honey buttercream, and French pastry chef Thierry Busset’s signature jam filling. Thierry will be donating 10 percent of macaron sales on Wednesday to St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation.

At Bel Café located at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia (801 West Georgia Street), pastry chef Wayne Kozinko will also be offering a new macaron flavour for Macaron Day. Partial proceeds from sales of a strawberry and lemon macaron ($2 each) will be donated to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society Kids’ Picks, which provides healthy, ready-to-eat snacks to children between the ages of 18 months and six years.

Coal Harbour’s Soirette Macarons & Tea (1433 West Pender Street) is hoping to give away up to 1,000 macarons (for a suggested donation of $2 each) on Wednesday. Owner and head pastry chef Shobna Kannusamy, who made cakes at the Four Seasons Hotel before opening Soirette, will be giving all donations as well as 10 percent of the day’s sales to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of B.C. and Yukon.

A short distance away, Leonidas Belgian Chocolates & Cafe (29-1055 Canada Place) will be celebrating Macaron Day by offering customers a special promotion consisting of three macarons and a cup of Mighty Leaf tea for $5. At Leonidas, macarons ($2 each) are made by a French pastry chef off-site and come in 21 different flavours, including pistachio, Darjeeling tea, mint, and Earl Grey tea. Leonidas will be donating 15 percent of sales on Wednesday to A Better Life Foundation, a Vancouver-based meal program run by restaurateur Mark Brand and Canuck Place co-founder Joanne Griffiths.