TRADITIONAL MADELEINES...for 300,000 hits! Woo Hoo!

"The sight of the little madeleine had recalled nothing to my mind before I tasted it...." but "....as soon as I had recognized the taste of the piece of madeleine soaked in her decoction of lime-blossom which my aunt used to give me .... immediately the old grey house upon the street, where her room was, rose up like a stage set to attach itself to the little pavilion opening on to the garden which had been built out behind it for my parents."

Marcel Proust (1871-1922)

'Remembrance of Things Past'

Yes it's time for another celebration on RC. This time it's because we hit another 100,000 visitors here in less than 2.5 months! Thank you all SO SO much for making this happen! I am not sure if you guys have noticed the 'Contact Me' page, where you can contact me (DUH!) inorder to clear any recipe doubts or recipe requests :-) So make use of that page!

This time around, I thought I'd keep my celebrations simple as we are going to have a jam packed eating session for the coming week. So let's keep some extra calories at bay :)

Madeleins are from France. They are feather light in weight and they have a characteristic 'hump' ( which looks like a pot belly to me) and it that 'hump' which determines the quality of it.Luckily I did get that 'hump' for my madeleins :) If you are a fan of the F.R.I.E.N.D.S. series, you would have heard Ross talking to Monica about these goodies. He says ,'they were light as feather'.

The honour for naming this cake so, belongs to King Stanislas Leszczynski of Poland, who, in the eighteenth century , tasted a tea cake made by a local woman in Commercy , France. He was so delighted with the cookie that he named it after the baker, Madeleine. (Info. courtsey: Dorie Greenspan)

The batter can be made up to 2 days in advance and they need to be chilled for a minimum of 3 hours. Don't try to cheat on it...you won't get the 'hump'.To make these beauties, you will need the specialised pan which can be bought in speciality shops in US. In India, I have never seen it, maybe you can get it now.

TRADITIONAL MADELEINS
Recipe from: Baking from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan, pg:166
Makes 12 large madeleines

Ingredients:

All purpose flour-2/3 c

Baking powder- 3/4 tsp

Pinch of salt

Sugar-1/2 c

Grated zest of one lemon

Eggs- 2 large, at room temperature

Vanilla extract- 2 tsp

Unsalted butter-3/4 stick/6 tbsp, melted and cooled

Method:

For the batter:

• Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
• In a large bow, rub together the sugar and lemon zest till the sugar is moist and fragrant (less than a minute).
• Add the eggs to the bowl and beat together on medium-high speed until pale, thick and light, 2-3 mins.
• Beat in vanilla and with a rubber spatula,very gently fold in the dry ingredients, followed by melted butter.
• Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface(yes, you read it right) of the batter and refrigerate it for atleast 3 hours, or for up to 2 days.

Getting ready to bake:

• Centre a rack in the oven and pre heat the oven to 400 F.
• Butter the tin generously and dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess.
• Spoon the batter into the moulds, filling each one almost to the top. Don't worry about spreading the batter, the oven's heat will take care of that.
• Bake them for 11-13 mins or till they are golden brown and the tops spring when touched.
• Rap the pan on the counter and the madeleins will fall out.
• Cool to room temperature and serve. You can also serve them warm.
• Store in airtight containers.

Verdict:

These beauties are perfect as gifts. They are best eaten warm on the same day but can be served at room temperature, too. Jobin loves madeleins and whenever I plan to  bake a batch as gifts, I make an extra batch  for him to do the taste test...yeah we eat not just one, but an entire batch to taste test and tell ;)

So thank you all,once again, for letting my blog touch this milestone!

Much love,