Classic French Madeleines: Lemon Earl Grey + Vanilla Bean Dark Chocolate

So I kind of got engaged a couple of months ago.

And by kind of, I mean I definitely got engaged a couple of months ago. On October 10th, to be exact.

Don’t worry, we’ll get to the classic French Madeleines in a second. I promise – this is related.

So yeah. I got engaged. But I refrained from officially announcing it here for 3 major reasons.

First, a lot of things happened in October.

I landed some pretty big food photography gigs, a publisher used 2 of my photographs for two different book covers, was offered my own cookbook deal, my business Peppercorn Creative turned a major corner, and I turned 35 to name a few. To be frank, I had this odd sense of success guilt. I was plagued with thoughts like “why do I deserve all this goodness right now?” and “everyone is going to think I’m bragging = annoying” and “they’re going to find me out and say mean things like FRAUD! LIAR! YOU SUCK!”

…With all this goodness,  how could I also ask you to be happy for me that he put a ring on it?

Second, it was hard to believe it was actually happening.

When someone told me he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, I didn’t know how to react. I was thrilled. Surprised. So happy. But speechless. In stereo-typical chica fashion (gag me with a spoon), I’d been planning and waiting and dreaming of that moment for exactly 35 years and 4 days. So when it finally did happen, it felt like I was playing make-believe. I still pinch myself every morning.

Third, it’s been 2 months. 

And I didn’t know how to tell you after all this time. And I kept trying to think of a recipe or post that would do this life-changing news justice. But nothing was good enough. Until now.

We’ve gone over the fact that I’m not a baker at length. Actually, we go over that fact every time I bake something. And with good reason. Shit kind of explodes when I bake. Or collapses into itself. Or melts into an epic pool of messiness. Much like most of my dating life.

As a single woman, I made quite a mess of most of my relationships. Either I just wasn’t that into them or they weren’t that into me or one of us was in one place while the other was elsewhere. Sometimes things were just too rushed or sometimes not rushed enough. Or the conditions were just perfect enough to have everything explode in our faces. Basically the chemistry simply wasn’t there.

And isn’t that what baking is? Chemistry.

Ingredients. Measurements. Timing. Patience. If any of these are off, shit just don’t work out.

For example, while recipe testing the best cake of my life (you’ll totally find that recipe in Cooking with Cocktails when it drops next Fall), my spring form pans had a bit of a meltdown. And by meltdown I mean they didn’t lock and seal. At all. It’s like the baking gods decided to role-play one of my baking nightmares by shitting apple-cider cake batter all over the inside of my oven.

Seriously. It was like when you’re on vacation and you go to the beach and do it in the surf with a handsome stranger and 2 weeks later when you’re back home and less tanned and you’re still finding grains of sand where they don’t belong.

Or like when I was baking these Madeleines. I wanted them to be more than 2 bite cookies; I wanted them to be 5 bite cookies. So when I filled the molds right full they were practically overflowing with delicious, buttery Madeleine batter. And when butter gets hot, it sizzles and bubbles all over the damn place.

They thence oozed right over the sides of the pan and down onto the element below. I only realized my fatal mistake when we were gagging on burnt butter smoke and the fire alarm was ring-ting-ting-a-ling-tooing loud enough for the North Pole to hear.

Story of my (dating) life.

It’s always been a smoke show of failed hopes, over-enthusiasm and miscalculations.

But then I wised up. I paid more attention. I was patient. And careful. And mindful. And decided I wasn’t afraid of cooking naked (I mean this in more ways than one). And then everything fit. It all worked out. And I ended up with the most amazing spongy cake cookies. And engaged to be wed!

This is a real gem of a life lesson here. Are you with me? Am I reaching? Okay. Let’s move on.

Classic Madeleines.

Are they cake? Are they cookies? Who cares? They’re fucking delicious. And they’re my chosen recipe for the 5th annual Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap, hosted by Lindsay at Love and Olive Oil and Julie of The Little Kitchen.

Here’s the deal: Basically you sign up, agree to bake 3 dozen cookies and ship them off to 3 other bloggers. Secret Santa style. So who you have, doesn’t know you have them, and vice versa. Then we bake, mail and ship our cookies and get a dozen in return from 3 other random food bloggers. And of course, as with every year, the cards and wrapping I sent were cleverly created by one of my besties. Check out her shop here.

These little beauties aren’t nearly as difficult as people like to make us believe. Much like myself. We just require a bit of patience.

Here’s 3 tips to help you make the best Madeleines ever:

1. Freeze your pans at least 1 hour before you use them. And once you dust them with flour and butter, put them back in the freezer again for a further 10 minutes. This keeps the batter from spreading too much and helps you get the little Madeleine bump that everyone craves so much.
2. Don’t make them too big. Not unless you want the fire department to show up at your place. But hey – any day there’s a fireman at my house is a good day. See the note about cooking naked. (just kidding John, just kidding.) But seriously – they’re meant to be two bite treats. Don’t try to make them into 5 bite treats.
3. Have everything ready and measured before you begin. The batter comes together very quickly and because you don’t want to over-mix or over-process the dough, you’ll want to work speedily.

The base for this recipe is from The Kitchn but the flavours are mine. And now they can be yours too. Don’t be afraid to adapt them to your preference. If you like orange more than lemon or chamomile more than earl grey or milk chocolate more than dark chocolate or hazelnuts more than almonds – go for it! I’m a firm believer in experimentation…. Which is probably why so many of my relationships never worked out.

Thank god I have a fiancé who is man enough to handle my quirks and whims.

And now I have Madeleines too.

It’s a damn good year.

Score the recipes I made previous #FBCookieSwap years:

• Cinnamon Sweet Potato Vegan Cookies
• Classic Glazed Sugar Cookies
• Salted Chocolate Stout Truffles
• Chocolate (Andes) Mint Cookies

Visit the lovelies that I sent cookies to: Homemade & Yummy | My Cookbook Addiction | XOXOBella

Visit the lovelies that sent cookies to me: Tea With Me | Live Love Bake | Yogurt Hydro

The post Classic French Madeleines: Lemon Earl Grey + Vanilla Bean Dark Chocolate appeared first on She Eats.

Kristy Gardner
Lascivious lover of good, “ethical” food & wine.

http://gastronomicalsovereignty.blogspot.com

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