Almond Madeleines

“And suddenly the memory returns. The taste was that of the little crumb of madeleine which on Sunday mornings at Combray (because on those mornings I did not go out before church-time), when I went to say good day to her in her bedroom, my aunt Léonie used to give me, dipping it first in her own cup of real or of lime-flower tea.”

I’ve been talking to myself again lately, walking down the sidewalk mouthing silent conversations. This seems to happen every spring. In the winter it’s simply too cold to open my mouth to speak at all.

Sometimes I look up and a passerby walking towards me will look at me all funny. Then I have to shuffle past pretending like I was just clicking my teeth and popping my jaw, as if that is less abnormal.

And so, in an attempt to absorb myself in anything but my voracious thoughts one frantic Sunday morning, I made these madeleines. I shared many, and I ate 10 myself. Then I felt much, much better.

You can make these with regular all-purpose flour, but I made a gluten-free version because I think everyone should get to have madeleines. So here is my little contribution.

I only have one madeleine pan, so I baked these in two batches. The browned ones are from the first batch, which I baked for 14 minutes. The lighter colored ones were baked for 12 minutes. I couldn’t decide which I preferred, which is why I kept going back for more, alternating between the two.

The 14 minutes ones are crispy, light as a feather, and taste deliciously almondy. The 12 minutes ones are a bit denser in the center and more buttery.

Ten madeleines later, I can only say that you should make yours both ways too. They’re equally addictive. Or, you could try 13 minutes…

If you can guess the author of the famous literary passage at the beginning of this post, I’ll give you a madeleine.

I’ve never actually read the book, but the madeleine episode is rather famous, so I’ve embraced it unabashedly.