Something Sweet with your Coffee ?

Almond Madeleines

Whenever I look back on my life, especially on my childhood or my teenage years in France, I have this echo in my mind of a famous text by French writer Marcel Proust, where the simple act of dipping a madeleine into a cup of coffee and biting into it awakens in him an avalanche of souvenirs. Sometimes, when I cook a french dish and I taste it, I remember when or where I had my first taste. Taste buds have memories. Or a direct path to them. That's how I manage to recreate French dishes, besides the visual aspect. The process is quite fascinating, and never fails to amaze me.
Madeleines are simple individual cakes in the shape of a clamshell, with a buttery taste. They are ideal for a tea or coffee break (a Proust moment), or anytime really :) I recently got myself a non stick mold for 12 madeleines. I finally used it the other day. The recipe is really easy and fast. The original recipe I had called for lemon zest. I tweaked it to add an almond flavor (see recipe below). Also, almond can easily be replaced with chocolate, by swapping the flavoring with melted chocolate. For fun, take the basic recipe and add your favorite flavor !

Almond Madeleines (for about 24 madeleines)

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 cup almond flour
• 1 stick of butter (4 oz)
• 0.25 oz baking powder
• 2 tsp almond extract
  

Using a handmixer, mix the eggs and sugar to a froth, then add the melted butter, and the flour by portions. Mix in the baking powder, the almond flour, and the almond extract until smooth. Preheat the oven to 400F. Grease your madeleine pan with some butter, add a teaspoon of batter in each mold, and bake for 10 minutes, or until golden. Take out of the oven, let the pan cool a few minutes, remove the madeleines, then regrease and repeat the cycle until you run out of batter !