A French Classic
“Could we have some tea? Why sure, I’d like some myself. He brought the steaming cups in and went back for the sugar bowl.”
East of Eden, John Steinbeck
Inspiration
When I reorganized my baking pans I found my madeleine pan wedged between a whoopie pie pan and a muffin tin. It seemed to wink at me; all that French history hidden away in the depths of an American pantry. Madeleines are the quintessential scallop shaped French cookie made famous by Marcel Proust in Remembrance of Things Past. Monsieur Proust was right, madeleines are perfectly paired with a steaming cup of tea on a winter afternoon. The madeleines are a mini version of a decadent sponge cake. The cookies ethereal qualities are found in their traditional French heritage of butter and eggs laced with vanilla and lemon zest.