Madeleine Medley - Ispahan Madeleine

" 'Ispahan', also known as 'Pompon des Princes', is a clear pink, half-open kind of Damask rose (an early type, introduced from the Middle east in European breeding during the crusading XIIIth century)." - Wikipedia
I have always associated Ispahan with Pierre Hermes - I am full of admiration for the Picasso of Pastry for dreaming up such wonderful flavour pairing. The merger of Rose, Raspberry and Lychee flavours is so impeccable that I would not hesitate to call it sublime. I feel a little audacious and ambitious trying to implement the Master's flavour pairing in my final instalment of my Madeleine Medley (it has to end... I can't write anymore about Madeleines) . However, the beauty of blogging is such - you are allowed to experiment with anything that strikes your fancy and subsequently choose to either brag, gripe or go on and on with the the most mundane account of it.

It is my constant fear that I should sit in front of my computer one day and have nothing interesting to write. The feeling is not unlike my sense of apprehension for the marriage institution. I have always told L that I fear the prospect of waking up one day in the morning after marriage and have nothing much to talk to each other anymore. I see married couples around me falling into the same rut and as such I have pretty much abhored the institution. L had chided me in a rather stern tone that I am being ridiculous -  that it is almost as if I am refusing to take a bath because I am afraid that I would drown in water.... Well, perhaps I am just not a bath person - I could never stay put in a warm bath tub for more than 5 mins - I would very much prefer the refreshing invigoration of a cool shower!

Back to the Ispahan Madeleine - indeed an overly ambitious attempt. The hump on the Madeleine, for some reason did not turn out as prominent as the previous 2 attempts. I had set out  wanting to create a Red Coloured morsel by brushing the baked Madeleine with a heat reduced portion of Raspberry Puree. However, this just merely turned the madeleine rather soft and soggy.  In the end, I had to settle for just the pink tinge in the cookie. Nobody ought to doubt the beautiful lingering fragrance of Rose/Raspberry/Lychee but the texture could have been a little more 'crusty' on the outside.

To wrap up, among the 3 experiments in this Madeleine series, I am most proud of my Kumquat Madeleines. These had the almost perfect texture and flavour. Well, until my next Proust moment, I will probably give madeleines a rest for now...



Recipe

100g      Unsalted butter
2            Large Eggs
75g        Castor sugar
78g        All purpose flour
37g        Ground almond
3g          Baking powder
25g        Raspberry puree
1g          Rose Extract
10g        Lychee Puree
10g        Frozen Raspberry, broken  into bits and floured

Method
1. Sift flour, ground almond and baking powder together. Add sugar to the sifted powder and mix well.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk eggs till foamy, add (1) to eggs to blend well. Add Raspberry Puree, Rose extract and Lychee Puree.
3. In the mean time, heat butter until butter boils and brown.
4. Add hot butter slowly into (2) and mix well until mixture is homogenous.
5. Mix in Frozen Raspberry.
6. Spoon batter in a greased and floured madeleine mold. Bake for 7mins at 220C.

Madeleine Medley Episode 2 - Kumquat Madeleine

Continuing from Madeleine Medley Episode 1...

" And suddenly the memory appeared. That taste was the taste of the little piece of madeleine which on Sunday mornings at Combray (because that day I did not go out before it was time for Mass), when I went to say good morning to her in her bedroom, my aunt Leonie would give me after dipping it in her infusion of tea or lime blossom. The sight of the little madeleine had not reminded me of anything before I tasted it; perhaps because I had often seen them since, without eating them, on the shelves of the pastry shops, and their image had therefore left  those days of Combray and attached itself to others more recent; perhaps because of these recollections abandoned so long outside my memory, nothing survived, everything had come apart; the forms and the form, too, of the little shell made of cake, so fatly sensual within its severe and pious pleating- had been destroyed, or still half asleep, had lost the force of expansion that would have allowed them to rejoin my consciousness. But, when nothing subsists of an old past, after the death of people, after the destruction of things, alone, frailer but more enduring, more immaterial, more persistent, ,more faithful, smell and taste still remain for a long time, like souls, remembering, waiting, hoping, upon the ruins of all the rest, bearing without giving way, on their almost impalpable droplet, the immense edifice of memory." - Swann's Way, In Search Of Lost Time, Translated by Lydia Davis.

Indeed, how often have I argued with L when he would adamantly proclaim that KL food can beat Singaporean food - hands down - anytime. I used to protest to no avail. Finally one day, I stopped protesting and tried,in my most objective disposition, to explain to him how taste often transcends beyond the tastebuds- for very often our taste preference is already molded by childhood habits, lineage and most potent of all, memories. I remember him relenting a little and got a little pensive. He still likes to take a jibe at Singapore food from time to time but I think he is less vehement nowadays (or so I feel).

Indeed, as confirmed by the above passage, Proust's earlier Madeleine epiphany was really a lineage to his forgotten childhood memories. I do really enjoy reading Swann's Way.The book is so fine, so sensitive, so detailed, it is best read on a lazy Sunday afternoon, when you are not in a hurry to get to anywhere, when you have the time to leisurely peruse and re-visit the sentences to savour the nuances in the convoluted prose. He is especially good at nuancing the seemingly insignificant e.g. he spent literally pages describing about the sensation and the awareness of the drifting state of slumber between dream, sleep and wakefulness. He also struggled over a few pages to rationalise, to understand the sensation he felt when he partake of that spoonful of Madeleine with tea... before eventually confronting his childhood memories...he is one fiercely introspective man!



Coming to the second episode of my Madeleine Medley - I choose to work with the punnet of Kumquats which I had bought from Japan almost a month ago. Suprisingly they kept quite well in the fridge, though I am sure they would have tasted better if I had chosen to eat them earlier. Nevertheless, these Kumquats (the Japanese call the Kin Kan 金柑) are deliciously sweet. I eat them whole with the thin skin. The citrusy flavour is exceptionally refreshing.  The typical Mandeleine uses Lemon zest. I went a little further by pulping the Kumquats and added copious amount of puree into the recipe. This render the Mandeleine moist and tender - and I am sure it is 10X better than Proust's dry, crumbly cookie! hahaha.....and I do prefer this to the Sesame version!


Recipe

100g                     Unsalted butter
2 large                  Eggs
75g                      Castor sugar
78g                      All purpose flour
37g                      Ground almond
3g                        Baking powder
40g                      Kumquat Puree ( pulped with skin using a blender)

Method

1. Sift flour, ground almond and baking powder together. Add sugar to the sifted powder and mix well.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk eggs till foamy, add (1) to eggs to blend well. Add Kumquat Puree.
3. In the mean time, heat butter until butter boils and brown.
4. Add hot butter slowly into (2) and mix well until mixture is homogenous.
5. Spoon batter in a greased and floured madeleine mold. Bake for 7mins at 220C.

Madeleine Medley Episode 1 - Sesame Madeleine

Madeleines, the famous magical 'cookies' that gave French author, Marcel Proust that shuddering moment of epiphany. This synopsis from Proust's 'Remembrance of Things Past' - Swann's Way has been so well published and referenced that the Madeleine has practically become Proust's cookie..

"She sent for one of those squat, plump little cakes called "petites madeleines," which look as though they had been moulded in the fluted valve of a scallop shell. And soon, mechanically, dispirited after a dreary day with the prospect of a depressing morrow, 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 had invaded my senses, something isolated, detached, with no suggestion of its origin. And at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory - this new sensation having had on me the effect which love has of filling me with a precious essence; or rather this essence was not in me it was me. I had ceased now to feel mediocre, contingent, mortal. Whence could it have come to me, this all-powerful joy? I sensed that it was connected with the taste of the tea and the cake, but that it infinitely transcended those savours, could, no, indeed, be of the same nature. Whence did it come? What did it mean? How could I seize and apprehend it?"

The poetic and romantic part in me was immediately sold but the curious part in me was extremely skeptical - I had eaten the madeleine before - the famous little French cookie is pretty in its scallop shape but to me, it is not too different from a genoise sponge. Most recipes use ground almonds with flour but there are also recipes(such as this one) that uses just all purpose flour. Where indeed, did this all-powerful joyous stimulation come from? And it seems, concerted efforts and claims have been dedicated to re-create Proust's Madeleines but I believe that for those who are expecting to be jolted from their pensive moods by elated senses similar to Proust's, they will most likely be disappointed. Proust is a philosopher, a writer with sensibilities that demonstrate strange depth. Intensely introspective and sharply aware of his every fleeting thoughts, he is possibly extremely sensitive to external stimuli that would normally fly over our heads without warranting a second thought from us.



I enjoy the Madeleine but am not totally crazy over it. In fact, the dry crumbly texture Proust's descriptions alluded to does not get me excited. It is his subsequent verse that had me sighing dreamily... if you ask me, the good old Khong Guan/ Jacob's cream cracker soaked in Milo would probably bring me closer to that joyousness than the Madeleine.  Such is the power of words - long and convoluted as they may be in Proust's style... nevertheless, it has inspired me enough to do 2 things : borrow Swann's Way from the National Library  and start the Madeleine Medley series on my blog... I seek to experiment with different flavours for the madeleine striving for something different . The first in the medley is this Sesame Flavoured Madeleine. Adapted from Pierre Hermes's chocolate Madeleine recipe from Chocolate Desserts, I incorporated sesame powder and a hint of bamboo charcoal for drama... unfortunately the colour turned out more brown than black but overall, the fragrance of the sesame is lovely and with its light crust and tender crumb, it will certainly go well with tea.... without falling apart into crumbly bits, though, I am afraid...


Recipe

70g                  All purpose flour
31/2 tbsp         Black sesame powder
1/2 tsp             Baking powder
90g                  Sugar
Pinch               Salt
2 large             Eggs
100g                Unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

Method

1. Sift flour, sesame powder, baking powder together and put aside
2. Using a whisk , beat eggs with sugar, salt until mixture is well blended.
3. Add butter and beat until well distributed.
4. At low blending speed, add in flour mixture - stirring enough to blend the flour with the butter mixture.
5. Cover batter with a cling film and refrigerate over night.
6. Set oven to 200C.
7. Bake batter in buttered and floured madeleine mold at 200C x 15mins.
8. Remove from mold and cool down.