Iconic literary food moments

One of the most famous mentions of food in literature is in Marcel Proust’s seven-book series, In Search of Lost Time, when the narrator involuntarily recalls an episode from his childhood after tasting a madeleine dipped in tea:

Ingredients
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 cup caster sugar
  • 1 lemon, rind only, finely grated

  • 1 large lime, rind only, finely grated
  • 3/4 cup plain flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 60g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • several tablespoons of caster sugar, melted in lime juice
Method

Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease a 20-hole madeleine baking pan. Place eggs, sugar, lemon rind and lime rind into bowl.

Using an electric hand beater, beat mixture until thick, pale and doubled in volume. Gently fold in flour, baking powder and butter using a metal spoon.

Place tablespoons of mixture into prepared madeleine moulds. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden and cakes spring back when pressed in the centre. Cool slightly before removing from moulds.

Cool on a wire rack. Drizzle with lime syrup

Image Credit: http://www.proust-ink.com/