La nostalgie - Madeleines

France is a long long way from Sydney. We do great food, but not everywhere.  We are passionate about food, but not consistently.  France is a great place to eat - they are so proud of their food heritage, and unlike many other places, they are not best pleased to see it being updated, modified or given a new 'twist'. I have more praise for this now, with a few years behind me than I did as a 21 year old Erasmus student in Grenoble when I thought it was a little backward that every Patisserie sold the same things.  They fight for the traditional because it has already taken its journey in order to get to that point, and it is beauty in its simplicity.

Madeleines are exactly this, cherished for their simple lemony elegance.  Another thing that I hadn't realised I missed until I bought this month's French Issue of Gourmet Traveller.  Oh how I love this magazine. It takes me far away from my Sydney life with its beautifully written and photographed food stories. Madeleines are perfect addition to a breakfast or a morning tea - a light but very moorish sponge, the batter needs to be rested overnight, but they take less than 10 minutes to bake.  The tins are not widely available, but gave me a great excuse to pop to The Essential Ingredient in Rozelle yesterday, heaven for foodies like me.

Please excuse me for 'modifying' the recipe a little - for want of lemons in our household, I used half lemon zest and half lime zest.  Hopefully the french will not slap my wrists too much for that little changement. I loved seeing the tiny flecks of green through my madeleines though.  They're a bit generous, something I'll rectify next time by only just filling each hole in the tin, rather than piling the batter in.

Bon appétit!