Sweet Madeleine’s

This week’s French Friday’s with Dorie cooking challenge is “Honey-Spiced Madeleine’s” from Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan.   Until this week, my exposure to madeleine’s was limited to the packaged, preservative laden product at The Coffee Bean, when we forget treats for Sasha the Wonder Dog, or at a tea room when served as a substitute for crumpets.  

Being a Culinary Diva means having a fully stocked kitchen, but even I was surprised to discover a madeleine pan in the dark recesses of a kitchen cabinet.  (I must be clairvoyant to have anticipated four years in advance this cooking challenge!) Since this pan had never been used, I made sure all tags and stickers had been removed to avoid the unmistakable, and most unpleasant, aroma of burnt paper and glue.  (Note:  Williams Sonoma has a nice selection of pans and some really great pasta serving bowls right now).

To my companion’s chagrin, I really spread out in the kitchen when cooking.  I like to get all the ingredients on display before starting and today was no exception.   The mixture of flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves and orange zest created heavenly and intoxicating aromas.  Perhaps so much so that I overlooked the instruction the dough rest for 3 hours before baking.  A wine dinner loomed just a couple hours away, so I re-read the instructions more carefully and, gratefully, learned the mixture can be kept under cover overnight in the refrigerator, either in the mixing bowl or, even better, in the madeleine pan ready to pop into the oven. 

The overnight rest relaxed not only me but the madeleine dough and with very little effort or time I was able to create a special morning treat.  I let the dough warm up a little before popping it into a 400 degree oven for  eleven minutes.  Sensuous fragrances wafted from the oven as I worked my BTL cappuccino machine.  The combination of fresh, hot madeleines with a frothy cappuccino is a great way to start the day.