In Search of the Perfect Madeleine

Spending a week or so in France has introduced me to the Madeleine. It’s not as if I did not know that she existed. I had seen plastic containers on the shelf in Whole Foods. But, it wasn’t until I tasted a homemade Madeleine in France that I decided I must really know her.

While staying with my niece, Dey, in Mercurey, a tiny village in the Burgundy region of France, I decided to whip up a batch with her requisite Madeline pan. We had most of the ingredients and only needed to substitute a lime for the lemon. However, we had only one liquid measure marked in pints and cups that she had just recently bought as she had become frustrated with converting American recipes into European measurements.

I found an American recipe online and began measuring out the ingredients. First the sugar and eggs, vanilla, lime and salt. It wasn’t until the flour that I realized that I had not exactly read the measuring cup properly. I had read the pints for cups and added way too much sugar. Not knowing how to make up for it I said, “what the heck,” and just kept going. I’m not real sure that the butter was exact measurement either, since it called for 10 tablespoons and the French beurre did not have the familiar tablespoons markings on it. So, I just guessed.

Well the first batch came out a bit…well done; maybe the degrees were off in Celsius since the recipe was in Fahrenheit. We cooled the cookies the specified 5 minutes. Stuck in the pan, though I buttered and floured, they came out a bit broken. The second batch in a cooler oven was only a bit less brown and crunchy. Of course, none of this mattered in the end, since they disappeared by early the next morning.

The cookies did not have the soft and moist consistency of their homemade French woman’s counterparts, but I am not discouraged. I’ve already priced a pan online and will have it waiting in the mail for me when I return. Since then, I’ve talked to my Denton high school friend, Ellise Pierce of www.cowgirlchef.com

turned Parisian ex-pat and she promised to send me a fool proof, American measured, Madeleine recipe so I can discover the delightfulness of this truly French cookie.

I can't hardly wait...but it will mean that I have to leave France. And that, will be a sad day all too soon.