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.

The Snickerdoodle.

So, Saturday morning, I ran an Oktoberfest 5k here in town. It was a cool crisp fall-like day for once. So, when I got home, I decided that I'd make something homey tasting. Homey to me, always equals cinnamon. There is just something about the smell and flavor of cinnamon that is comforting. It's like a warm quilt.

Okay, that sounds really lame.

Anyway, so, I was thinking cinnamon and I decided to attempt to make Snickerdoodles. Now, my only experience eating snickerdoodles has been from Mrs. Fields in the mall. And I think the only reason I had one, was because they were giving them away free. (Normally, I opted for white chocolate macadamia nut, or chocolate chip). And I really liked it. The perfect cookie texture, nice and chewy... almost caramel-like in texture in the center, with a lightly crunchy exterior.

I searched around for some recipes and came up with a Martha Stewart one. I'm not crazy about this recipe. I expected more chewiness and less cakey-ness. I also feel like they need to be more sweet. They turned out really pretty though. But, the next time I am craving a snickerdoodle, I'll try a different recipe. These are good. Just not GREAT.


*** I did make one change to the recipe, I added a little vanilla. I just can't bake anything without vanilla. It's a sickness.