La Platicona Habla: Tastes, Passions and Pursuits

Marcel Proust, a famous French author, is perhaps most commonly known in the food world as making Madeleines -- a bite-sized cake-textured cookie -- famous by writing about it in his novel Remembrance of Things Past (À la recherche du temps perdu):

"She (Marcel's mother) sent for one of those squat plump little cakes called "petites madeleines," which look as though they had been molded in the fluted valve of a scallop shell … I raised to my lips a spoonful of the tea in which I had soaked a morsel of the cake. No sooner had the warm liquid mixed with the crumbs touched my palate than a shudder ran through me and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary thing that was happening to me. An exquisite pleasure invaded my senses …"

Although his description sounds like an orgasm, the real controversy surrounding Proust's passage about the madeleine isn't his sensual language, but rather, the fact that his madeleine sounds like it was a stale shortbread cookie rather the moist cake-like treat we are familiar with.

Putting Proust's failed recollection aside (and his stale madeleine for that matter), I tried my hand at making a batch and they lived up to their hallowed description. If you drink coffee or black tea, there can be no better match than these cake-like cookies. I simply couldn't make enough - they lasted about 2 days before they mysteriously disappeared from my countertop.


The following recipe is again, adapted from Once Upon a Tart. I suggest that if you want to try to make this recipe, you double check for all the ingredients and tools. A madeleine mould is a must. I have a plain old-fashioned tin one, I don't like teflon. You also need a cooling baker's rack. This prevents the madeleine's from over-baking in the hot mould. Finally, if you can procure a local honey that is has not been pasteurized to death, it will really contribute to the flavor. I managed to get some honey produced by my boyfriend's grandpa who raises honey bees in the backyard full of mint, lavender, and rose plants. The honey has a cloudy appearance and an essence of all the herbs the bees feed on to produce the honey.

Tools you will need:

- one or two madeleine moulds
- cooling rack
- shaker or mesh strainer for sprinkling powdered sugar
- optional pastry bag
- pastry brush

Ingredients:

- 6 tbsp butter (4 for the recipe, and 2 reserved for brushing on the mould)
- 1 1/2 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 c sugar
- 1 tbsp packed brown sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- confectioner's sugar for dusting

Step One: melt 4 tbsp butter over low heat in a small pan. Once melted, remove from heat and stir in honey and vanilla, leaving to cool.

Step Two: Beat the eggs and sugars in a bow at high speed until the mixture turns foamy and light (about 5 minutes)

Step Three: In a separate bown, whisk flour, baking powder and salt together. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wen ingredients using a spatula. Add the cooled butter/honey and continue mixing until fully incorporated.

Step Four: Cover bowl and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Step Five: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Brush the madeleine mould generously with barely melted butter, and around the mould as well.

Step Six: Either using a pastry bag or a spoon, fill each mould three quarters full. I advise that you fill the top of the mould as it expands when baking.

Step Seven: Bake for 8-10 minutes or unti ljust golden brown. Remove immediately and set on cooling rack. After a few minutes, turn the mould over and empty the cookies onto the cooling rack. Dust with powdered sugar and eat warm (it's the best).

Repeat and eat, and eat again!

Labels: cake, cookies, dessert, honey

Is there any felicity superior to chewy chocolate chip oatmeal cookies? I think not. The difficult thing is living in a place where nothing rises: breads, cakes, and your chocolate chip cookies (they just flatten out real ugly and turn crispy). Searching for the holy grail of cookies, I think I found what I was looking for once again in Once Upon a Tart's cookbook. The recipe is actually a modification of their chocolate chip cookies, but the principle remains the same for churning out chewy cookies: beat that butter and sugar like your shakin' your money maker! The "key" to making cookies that don't have the texture of cds is to cream the butter and sugar at least five minutes. With that, let's get to it.

You will need:

- 2 sticks of unsalted REAL butter, room temperature
- 1/2 c sugar
- 1 c packed brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla

- 2 c flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 c rolled oats
- 1 1/2 c bitter sweet chocolate chips
- 1 c chopped walnuts

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Step One: In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and granulated sugar for 5 minutes on high speed. Add the brown sugar and beat another 4 minutes. On a lower speed, mix in one egg at a time and then vanilla.

Step Two: In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking soda and salt together. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, add these ingredients into the wet ingredients, completely incorporating them. Add the oatmeal, chocolate chips and walnuts at the end.

Step Three: Using a 1/3 c scooper, plop the cookies on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes or until the centers stop shining (the dough is cooked then). Remove promptly and cool. EAT THEM UP.

Labels: chocolate, cookies, dessert, oatmeal