Petite Madeleine - French Cake

The madeleine or petite madeleine is a traditional small cake from Commercy, a commune of the Meuse département in northeastern France.

Madeleines were made famous by Marcel Proust in his novel 'Remembrance of Things Past' in which he wrote: "She sent out for one of those short, plump little cakes called 'petites madeleines', which look as though they had been moulded in the fluted scallop of a pilgrim's shell....... An exquisite pleasure had invaded my senses....".

Madeleines are very small sponge gâteaux with a distinctive shell-like forme acquired from being baked in pans with shell-shaped depressions. Their goût is similar to, but somewhat lighter than, pound cake, with a pronounced beurre et citron lemon taste.

Aside from the traditional moulded pan, commonly found in magasins specialising in kitchen equipment and even hardware stores, few tools are required to make madeleines. Traditional recettes include very finely ground nuts (usually almonds) as well as common cake ingredients such as flour, œufs, beurre, sucre and vanilla.

gâteaux (gah toh) -cakes

forme (form) -flavor

goût (goot) -flavor

beurre et citron (burr ay see trohn) -butter and lemon

magasins (mah gah zahn) -stores

recettes (reh seht) -recipes

œufs, beurre, sucre (oof burr soo kruh) -eggs, butter, sugar

Click here to take you to a recipe for this treat.