Madeleines

Madeleines…had to look it up!  According to Webster’s… “a type of small, rich cake baked in a shell shaped mold”.  I wish every recipe in our BWJ had pictures for these times when I don’t know what I am trying to acheive. 🙂  If you would like the recipe, check out Amy and Katie’s blog.

So I was off to Bed Bath and Beyond for a Madeleine pan.  I figured there have been so few purchases I have had to make to participate in this baking group, why not…after all…I want the classic look of the shell shaped mold if I am going to tackle the recipe.

I was feeling a bit more confident with this recipe since we made a similar batter with our French Strawberry Cake last spring….and that was a hit in my family.  What I do remember about baking genoise: the comment in the book stating “This is the point at which the batter is at its most fragile, so fold gingerly”.  That will surely make you fold cautiously!!!…especially after beating eggs for 10+ minutes!  You see, the cake gets its lift from the air retained in the whole egg and sugar mixture that is beaten until it has tripled in volume…not any leavening or beaten egg whites.  The next step of adding the dry ingredients can be daunting….

Trying to get that ribbon that will stay for 10 sec…I found the last time, that it was a lighter touch to sift the dry ingredients onto the egg mixture…still in thirds…and then gently fold.

Ready to go…after gently folding.

At this point I thought they looked pretty good…although I noticed in the recipe that it listed a cup of powdered sugar but not what to do with it.  I figured it would be to dust them, but having never seen a madeleine I was thankful to those of you who posted on the P & Q page! 🙂  Thank you!

The cookies were made, the kitchen smelled heavenly, and the text messages went out…”Madeleines are fresh out of the oven and ready if you are in the area to come pick up”.  I think this is one of my favorite parts of this baking group…my tasters!  Everyone is so eager to taste two new creations a month…never have to ask twice!!  Extra exciting this time, as I have new followers and tasters from book club…might have to bring a sampling of something to a meeting soon. 🙂

No one in my group had ever tasted a madeleine so it was a new experience for all of us.  We all thought they looked really cute and would be perfect for a tea…and…that you need the tea or coffee to go with these.  Although the flavor was good, they seemed a bit dry.  I of course thought they would taste better dipped in chocolate…another suggestion was to have jelly/jam in the middle.  My tasters that had them the next morning with coffee all reported back they were great that way.  Maybe we just don’t know that is the way they are suppose to be eaten haha!  I would say these are a keeper for times I was putting on a luncheon, tea, or shower…not too hard and would look cute on the table. 🙂

Rustic Potato Loaves

This potato bread was a really straight forward recipe!

• Boil potatoes
• Mash the potatoes
• Mix in the remaining ingredients.
• Allow the dough to rise for two short 20 min periods

If you would like the recipe check out Dawn’s blog.

Got the dough ready…got through all of the short rises…seemed like I was going to sail through this recipe.  Went to shape my loaves, and oh wow!  Then everything fell apart…literally!  My dough was SO flimsy..like hardly any substance at all. I really could not work with the dough at all to make it into any kind of a “torpedo”.  I was really concerned that the bread might not work out but I figured what was there to lose.  I shaped them the best I could and put them in the oven.

They smelled good and surprisingly looked good when I took them out of the oven!  Not quite the “torpedo” shape but at this point I was just glad we had something that looked like crusty bread. 🙂

We let the bread rest and then cut into it.  I don’t think any of us in my family had ever had potato bread so it was a new experience for us.  Interesting taste!  The bread was really fresh, light, and had a nice crusty exterior.  I am not sure I really liked the flavor, but my family enjoyed it.  My daughter was home from college and was able to partake as a “taster” so that was nice!  She usually has to hear about the TWD adventures in my kitchen and not get to experience it.   Overall, everyone was happy.  All of my tasting groups reported back that the bread was delicious!  My dad even texted me saying he loved it and he was putting in a order for two loaves.  I would say the bread was a success!  I guess the problems I had with the dough had no bearing on taste! 🙂  Always good to persevere and just see how it turns out in the end!  I will be curious to see if anyone else had the same issues with the dough.

Update:  I ate the few mocha chip cookies I saved for after Easter…they were DELICIOUS!!  🙂