"Walkway to east building," where arguably necessary conveyor belts come with sparkling lights.
"Walkway to east building," where arguably necessary conveyor belts come with sparkling lights.
Art near the B gates: "Altocumulus Lenticularis" by Inigo Mnglano Ovalle.
The view shortly after waking up while camping at Marshall Beach, Point Reyes.
Taken while admiring the beach at Tulum.
Madeleines are probably my favorite baked good - both to eat and to make. They're rich in flavor, but light in texture. They're quick to make (hellooo, morning option), but don't get boring as they exercise good techniques (easy to learn good techniques, even). And they go really well with coffee.
But like many great things before noon, there's a catch. You have to have this pan:
and of course, it only has one use: making madeleines. I used to be really opposed to getting single-use kitchen equipment, but when I find myself wanting to use such an item more frequently than some of my multi-use equipment, I have to cave. Especially when it imparts a unique contrast of texture - one half a smooth, soft side and the other more firm, scalloped. And no other mold, not even miniature bundt molds barely filled, have quite the right proportions to create the same intriguing springy texture.
These delightful cookie cakes start with a sponge, genoise batter, but that's just a fancy way to describe a particular preparation of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. Making genoise isn't time consuming, but a slight bit technique complicated until you've made so many madeleines that you've got it down. It's all about learning not to over beat eggs (makes folding things in harder), folding in flour quickly, lightly, and completely (or they'll turn out clumpy or flat), and even worse, folding in butter the same way (same problems, but you're dealing with a slightly different beast). Folding in the flour is pretty easy when you make plain madeleines only with cake flour, but try that a couple of times then really go for it with my favorite variation - toasted hazelnut madeleines. You can even make the hazelnut flour yourself!
Makes twelve 3-inch madeleines. Store in an air tight container, but know that they are best when consumed within a day.