美味人生

 口味香濃的馬德琳貝殻蛋糕 Madeleines (cake)，

讓老公一口接一口，欲罷不能。

在一次 potluck (每人準備一至兩道菜餚或飯後點心) 的午餐聚會時, 好友 Connie 非常貼心地為大家準備了一份可带回家的 goody bag - 馬德琳小蛋糕 (Madeleines), 讓大夥兒能带回去和家人分享, 真是開心.  她還為我們大致講述了一下, 該款法式甜點之所以會在法國以外的地區聲名大噪的原因, 是因為法國作家 Marcel Proust, 在他的小説中有關於書中人物在吃下 madeleines 後通體奇特的感覺.

“She sent out for one of those short, plump little cakes called petites madeleines, which look as though they had been moulded in the fluted scallop of a pilgrim's shell. And soon, mechanically, weary after a dull 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, and the crumbs with it, touched my palate than a shudder ran through my whole body (....我將浸有一小塊蛋糕的一匙茶提起置入我的唇内. 當這微温的液体及蛋糕屑觸碰到我的味蕾時, 一種譲我不寒而慄颤斗的感覺通達我全身.....) , and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary changes that were taking place... at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory…”

— "Remembrance of Things Past" (or In Search of Lost Time), Volume 1: Swann's Way.

老公吃過後, 果真讃不絶口. 那淡淡的檸檬香味, 確實讓人口齒留香.  因此我照 Connie 的食譜略作修正後, 試做了些再讓老公大快朵颐. 他可是吃得欲罷不能, 連連稱好吃.

Lemon Madeleine 檸檬口味材料:

2 cups 低筋麫粉 (cake flour)

1 teaspoon 發粉 (baking powder)

1/4 teaspoon 鹽 (salt)

3 tablespoons 檸檬皮末 (lemon zest)

1 cup (2 sticks) 軟化的無鹽奶油 (unsalted butter)

 3 teaspoons 檸檬汁 (lemon juice)

1-1/3 cups 砂糖 (sugar)

6 個雞蛋 (eggs)

2 teaspoon 香草精 (vanilla extract)

作法:

1) 將麫粉, 發粉和鹽先篩過置, 並將檸檬皮末拌入粉中.

2) 用打蛋器將軟化奶油先打匀, 加入檸檬汁及糖續打至濃稠狀, 加入雞蛋(一個接一個地加)續打至完全均匀.

3) 將 1)项的粉狀材料分次加入蛋糊中, 攪拌均匀.

4) 將攪拌好的麫糊, 一匙一匙地填入已噴有防沾油的特殊烤模中, 裝約九分滿.

5) 以 350 度 F (175 度 C) 烘烤約 20 分鐘, 待邊緣呈金黄色, 中間稍凸起並有彈性即可出爐.  稍涼後脱模, 置網架上冷却.

以上材料可以用上圖的特殊烤模 (Nonstick Madeleine Pan), 做約 44 ~ 48 個. 在第二批烘烤時, 我在麫糊中加入半杯的蔓越梅亁果 (dried cranberry) 一起烘烤, 就成 Cranberry Madeleines, 别有另一番風味.

這絶對是朋友聚餐, 享受下午茶, 或為家人準備貼心點心的上好選擇.