It is difficult to present madeleines, these well-known little cakes without evoking the memories they bring back to the novelist Marcel Proust (1871-1922), in "Du Côté de chez Swann", volume 1 of his literary work "A la looking for lost time". By tasting a madeleine with its characteristic taste, the reminiscence of old memories involuntarily imposes itself on the author, hence the expression "madeleine of Proust" to evoke a taste, an object, a color, an odor, etc. . that reactivate an old memory.
Otherwise, on the pastry level, the madeleine of Commercy, the original, comes from Lorraine:legend has it that in the middle of the 18th century, the servant of the Marquise Perrotin de Baumont inquired about making a dessert learned from his grandmother, to make up for the absence of dessert at the reception given at the Château de Commercy in honor of Duke Stanislas; the latter so appreciated these little scallop-shaped cakes in which they had baked that he gave them the first name of the one who had cooked them, Madeleine Paulmier.
Madeleines are nutritious little cakes that can be used as a snack accompanied by yogurt and fruit, for example. The ingredients needed to make these pastries are basic, but you need a madeleine mold without which you won't get the shape that makes madeleines special:metal or good quality silicone, it's up to you.
The recipe should make it possible to form 20 madeleines approximately 6.5cm long. If the children are not too greedy, you can keep them for a few days in a tightly closed box, after waiting for them to be perfectly cooled.
In a bowl, break the egg whites and beat them vigorously until they are practically whipped but not completely.
In another bowl, mix the icing sugar, flour and ground almonds.
Gently fold in the egg whites.
Melt the butter in a bain-marie. Meanwhile, grate the zest of the lemon and collect its juice which must be poured into the preparation.
Still mixing, add the melted butter then the grated zest and honey.
Leave the dough in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
While the oven preheats to 190°C (th. 6-7), place the silicone madeleine mold on an oven rack to facilitate its handling or the metal mold, and fill each of the small molds up to the upper edge .
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes depending on the oven. It is sometimes necessary to lower the oven temperature to 170°C, halfway through cooking, when they have puffed up.
When the madeleines are golden brown with a nice bump, remove them from the oven. Wait a few minutes to unmold them without burning yourself. If another batch is to be made, clean the mold with cold water so that it is well cooled before being put back in the oven with the dough also very cold. Repeat cooking.
Leave to cool and enjoy these soft madeleines...before they all disappear! It seems that this is the recipe for madeleines from Joël Robuchon, the starred chef!
