The story of the “Madeleine”…
Stanislas, king of Poland used to have, as a second home, the
castle of Commercy, in a small town of the Lorraine region (east part of France).
One day, in the year of grace 1755, he received, as guests, the great Voltaire and Madame du Châtelet, both known to him to have a sweet tooth. For this event, he ordered to his cook, a woman called Madeleine, to create a brand new sweet.
She then proposed to the king's guests small cakes with a fat belly who were declared to be excellent beccause, among other reasons, of their delicate bergamot orange flavour.
King Stanislas aprreciated them so much that he sent a parcel full of them to the king of France, Louis XV, in Versailles.
The cake became so successful that it was decided to call it "Cake of the Queen" but the queen prefered to call it "Madeleine", from the name of the one who invented this today famous cake.
And this is why the name of a modest cook of a noble house became famous for ever.
Ingredients for 1 dozen of Madeleine :
3 eggs
- 50 g of milk
- 200 g of caster sugar
- 1 sachet or dose of vanilla sugar
- 250 g of flour - 1 sachet or dose of baking powder
-125 g of butter
Direction :
Mix the eggs, milk, sugar, flour, vanilla sugar and baking powder. Once the batter is well blended you may add the melted butter. Continue mixing for 1 minute.
Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C) for 10 min.
Butter the molds and fill them up halfway, cook in the oven for 10 / 15 minutes at 400°F (200°C).
Peel off when cold.
You may obtain another variant of these madeleine cakes by incorporating chocolate powder to the original batter.
Et voilà! Enjoy!
