These delicious little cakes are often associated with Marcel Proust, who wrote in Swann’s Way: ". . . my mother, seeing that I was cold, offered me some tea . . . She sent out for one of those short, plump little cakes called ‘petite madeleines,’ which look as though they had been molded in the fluted scallop of a pilgrim’s shell. And soon . . . I raised to my lips a spoonful of the tea in which I had soaked a morsel of the cake." 4 eggs, at room temp 2/3 cup white or brown sugar 1 cup sifted flour 1 teasp. Vanilla dash of salt ½ cup melted butter (room temp) Grease and flour madeleines pans (I use sifted xxx sugar in place of flour) Preheat oven to 400 Adjust oven racks to lower part of the oven Wisk eggs with salt Add sugar gradually until mixture stands in very stiff peaks Add vanilla Sift ¼ of the flour at a time over egg mixture Fold flour into egg mixture completely Add butter (! Tblspoon at a time), fold completely into mixture Fill Madeleine pans nearly 2/3 full Place in oven and bake until golden (8-10 minutes) Turn onto wire cooling rack Serve when cooled |