Tuesday, May 20, 2008

TWD: Madeleines

Admission: I minored in English and consider myself to be fairly well-read, but I cannot name you one thing that Marcel Proust has written. And it's funny, because... you hear his name tossed around at cocktail parties a lot (okay, well not at the cocktail parties that I go to, but I'm sure that in cocktail parties in new york or paris they're comparing Proust to Camus while sipping absinthe). Thanks to wikipedia I was able to read up on him and now... the next time I'm at a swanky cocktail party (which is likely to be never) I can confidently throw out something about Proust's greatest work: In Search of Lost Time.

Strangely enough, though I didn't know a thing about any of his work, there is one thing that I've always known about Proust. He loved him some madeleines. Coincidentally... that's the only thing I knew about madeleines, also. That Proust wrote something about how magnificent they were. And now, thanks to wikipedia I know that he referenced them in In Search of Lost Time.

Wow, isn't learning fun, y'all?

Anyway... back to the cookies or are they tea cakes? I was pretty excited when Tara of Smells Like Home chose Traditional Madeleines because it's something I've always wanted to try, but since there's no chocolate or nuts and it requires a special pan, I'd likely never try to make. But, I'm so glad I did.

I didn't have any lemons, but I did have oranges, so I used orange zest instead of lemon, which made these smell heavenly as they baked. They were so light and airy, I couldn't help but continue to pop them into my mouth while I took pictures of them. So delicate and tasty. Yum.

I made mini madeleines and decided to go a little overboard and fill some of them with a cream cheese-orange zest frosting to make mini madeleine sandwiches and they were delicious, too. Although, honestly... the madeleines didn't need any frosting. They were brilliant on their own.

Another thing I now know of Marcel Proust... he had great taste!

Be sure to check out all the other bloggers Madeleines at Tuesdays with Dorie.

19 comments:

Engineer Baker said...

OMG - must make those now. NOW. I love the idea of madeleine sandwich cookies!

Bumblebutton said...

Frosting! Ooooo! And don't worry about Proust--really, truly, I think he is immortalized by his cookie reference and his longevity would have otherswise played out long ago.

kimberly salem said...

they look beautiful! i love the filling idea, although i agree that they are great on their own!

ostwestwind said...

What a great idea to fill this little babies.

Ulrike from Küchenlatein

Melissa said...

They look great with a filling!

mimi said...

your mini madeleines look great! love the idea of sandwich filling although i'm sure proust would disagree!

Anonymous said...

They look great! The orange was a very good idea and I love the little sandwich aspect.

Gretchen Noelle said...

Cute madeleine sandwiches! Great job!

Casa Costello said...

What a fabulous idea - I bet the cream cheese made them altogether more interesting. Hx

steph- whisk/spoon said...

madeleine sandwich--what would proust think? he'd probably think they were great!

Christine said...

The orange madeleines are awesome! Love the idea with the cream cheese they look delicious!

Cheryl said...

Oh, baby! I just told my husband a few minutes ago that I want to try them with orange zest next time. And the orange filling sounds soooo good!

Garrett said...

Those mini sandwiches look adorable! A bit of light frosting on a madeleine doesn't seem like it would do too much damage ;-)

Anonymous said...

Yum! Orange and frosting?!

CB said...

YUM! Love the idea of a madeleine cream cheese frosting sandwich! I'll take 2 please! Great job!
Clara @ I♥food4thought

Jaime said...

love your little madeleine sandwiches!

Jayne said...

What a great idea - those little sandwiches look yummy!

Mari said...

I could definitely take on a couple of madeleine sandwhich cookies right now...mouthwatering!

LyB said...

Mini madeleines sandwiches, they are so cute! Very creative! :)