Mad about…Madeleines! Plump and tasty, delicate little Madeleines!

Here it is already…2014!! Happy New Year!

I have been gone for so long again. Doggone it!! I miss this place…called blog!

I won’t go into long detail about my absence…only try to get up to date with some shares of some of my favorite things since I last checked in.

One of those very delicious favorite things is this tender little sponge cake that they call a cookie! They are called Madeleines.

I know I’ve heard of them before but when I saw them on a ‘Best Christmas Cookies’ and also a ‘Favorite Christmas Cookies’ list I had to try them. And this was, in part, in honor of my French heritage. I am also part Danish. Is it any wonder I have an attraction to all things pastry? I’m doomed!

These ‘cookies’ do require a special pan. After doing an online search to find a Madeleine pan I went to two stores that were supposed to carry the pan and had no luck. Nobody seemed to know what they were either. Now I am doubting the popularity of these so-called favorite ‘cookies’. I wasn’t willing to give up just yet though! Surely…Bed Bath & Beyond would have this specialty pan! I went to BB&B and could not find what I was looking for. I asked an Associate if they carried the pans and she looked at me with a very confused look on her face. Luckily…another customer, near by, explained what they were and said…’oh yes, those are delicious’! Ah hah…I said…I must have this pan! The Associate understood what I needed after the very helpful customer explained that they look like little fans. I was then directed to the right shelf where there was but one remaining Madeleine pan!  The cashier was just as excited about my purchase as I was, thinking that he now knew where to direct the other customers that had been asking about this very special pan! But..ha I say…this pan is mine and there are no others!   I felt blessed and I now believed the Cookie list to be accurate! OK…does this story sound at all like the narrative in A Christmas Story yet? No…I cannot shoot my eye out with this pan!

As I was doing some other Christmas shopping (yes, for others, now that I had my very special pan in hand), I was again lucky and blessed to find yet another pan, in fact two, at another store. The BB&B pan (a Wilton pan) definitely had a different shape than the other pans that I found at The HomeGoods Store. After trying them both I have determined that my preference is the pan that I found at The HomeGoods Store. The Wilton pan is deeper, narrower and my Madeleines turned out like little flying saucers…not the desired result. The Madeleines baked in the other pans…perfect! I wish I could tell you what brand the other pan is. I threw out the packaging and it isn’t marked on the pan. The HomeGoods Store carries them.

I’ve now made two batches. One batch makes about 22 cookies (even though the recipe says 24). I think the pan design has something to do with the yield.I am reluctant to confess…but I shall anyway…my husband and I can eat all 22 cookies in less than 24 hours. OK…he does eat most of them. And just in case you’re wondering if that was a fluke…nope! Second batch…gone in 24 hours!

I tested two recipes. I will share a link to the first recipe that I tried…

Ina Garten’s Coconut Madeleines:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/coconut-madeleines-recipe/index.html

And this link will take you my Google Sites recipe site where I’ve added my adapted recipe…

https://sites.google.com/site/recipesfromhomeandtherange/madeleine-cookie-cakes

I am truly glad about being mad for these things! A new recipe for the New Year!

Wishing you a very blessed and Happy New Year…

a Year full of new and wonderful,

a Year that is blessed simply…

and simply blessed!

Vee

Winter Wreath

A wreath is a symbol of growth and of the continuous circle of life.

It is a symbol of God’s Love…Everlasting, yet ever new.

Each new day…His Love is there! Happy 2014! May God bless you and yours!