Proust was onto something...

...when he wrote about these little tea cakes. Madeleines are an absolutely simple, yet extremely satisfying biscuit that is reminiscent of little shell cookies, but they do in fact have the texture of cakes. It's hard not to love their buttery melt-in-your mouth texture. It had been quite a while since I had baked something (that was NOT a cupcake), so I figured a nice easy batch of madeleines would be quite nice to munch on while watching the Euro 2008 final. I even made them extra special, adding some lemon juice and zest for a light citrusy tang. Making sure that I generously greased the pans, the tea cakes came out quite easily, although I did have to bake it for longer than instructed. I know they are not crepes or even Italian (It's actually from northeast France), but they will suffice for now. Baby steps, no?


“She sent out for one of those short, plump little cakes called petites madeleines, which look as though they had been moulded in the fluted scallop of a pilgrim's shell. And soon, mechanically, weary after a dull day with the prospect of a depressing morrow, I raised to my lips a spoonful of the tea in which I had soaked a morsel of the cake. No sooner had the warm liquid, and the crumbs with it, touched my palate than a shudder ran through my whole body, and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary changes that were taking place…at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory…”
-- Rememberance of Things Past, Volume 1: Swann's Way.

They don't look that great, but they will certainly aid me get through my football withdrawal (which I'll have to endure for another month and a half).