madlene

Over and over again
I keep tasting that sweet madeleine
Looking back at my life now and then
Asking if not later then when?

It's taken me all of my life
It's taken me all of my life to find you
                  
                               Pet Shop Boys , Memory of the Future

Tradicionalni francuski kolačići, nazvani po kuvarici Madlene, koja je radila za grofa Stanislava (poljskog kralja i vojvode od Lorraine - pokrajine u čijem gradu Commercy se sve dešava), čiji je zet bio Luj XV... a zetu su se izgleda svideli kolačići kod tasta, a možda i kuvarica, te ih je on i krstio, pa je kuvaričino ime ovekovečeno. Naravno, da kolačići nisu izvrsni, ne bi ni ova priča opstala. 

Ove kolačiće Prust opisuje u svojih gorkasto slatkim uspomenama, maestralno poetski opisujući samo naizgled banalne detalje svakodnevice, u knjizi U potrazi za izgubljnim vremenom, sedmotomnim delom od tri hiljade strana sa par hiljada junaka:

“... one of those squat, plump little cakes called ‘petites madeleines,’ which look as though they had been moulded in the fluted valve of a scallop shell.” 

pa još o njima kaže:

No sooner had the warm liquid mixed with the crumbs touched my palate than a shudder ran through me and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary thing that was happening to me. An exquisite pleasure had invaded my senses, something isolated, detached, with no suggestion of its origin. And at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory – this new sensation having had on me the effect which love has of filling me with a precious essence; or rather this essence was not in me it was me. ... Whence did it come? What did it mean? How could I seize and apprehend it? ... And suddenly the memory revealed itself. The taste was that of the little piece of madeleine which on Sunday mornings at Combray (because on those mornings I did not go out before mass), when I went to say good morning to her in her bedroom, my aunt Léonie used to give me, dipping it first in her own cup of tea or tisane. The sight of the little madeleine had recalled nothing to my mind before I tasted it. And all from my cup of tea.

— Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time

Meni, ipak, ovog jesenjeg jutra, ušuškanoj u toplo ćebe i sopstvene gorkasto slatkaste uspomene, bliža pesma grupe Pet Shop Boys... šta ću,... u susret još jednom Sajmu knjiga na koji neću otići, danas neću da čitam, biram muziku - lepše mi je. Moje mi godine konačno daju potpuno pravo na sve moje izbore.

"Memory Of The Future"

You seem to be
Inevitable to me
Like a memory of the future
I was and will be with you

Over and over again
I keep tasting that sweet Madeleine
Looking back at my life now and then
Asking if not later then when?

It's taken me all of my life
It's taken me all of my life to find you
It's taken me all of my life
It's taken me all of my life to find you

You unlock the past
So many scenes revealing fast
At last the right conclusion
Or at least a sweet illusion

Over and over again
I keep tasting that sweet Madeleine
Looking back at my life now and then
Asking if not later then when?

It's taken me all of my life
It's taken me all of my life to find you
It's taken me all of my life
It's taken me all of my life to find you

You seem to be
A perfect memory
Of the future reminding me
How life is meant to be

Over and over again
I keep tasting that sweet Madeleine
Looking back at my life now and then
Asking if not later then when?

It's taken me all of my life
It's taken me all of my life to find you
It's taken me all of my life
It's taken me all of my life to find you

It's taken me all of my life
It's taken me all of my life to find you
It's taken me all of my life
It's taken me all of my life to find you

It's taken me all of my life

Sastojci:

• 2 veća jajeta
• 2/3 šolje šećera
• 1 kašikica ekstrakta vanile
• 1 kašikica soka od limuna
• 1/2 kašikice strugane lumunove kore
• prstohvat soli
• 1 šolja brašna
• 10 kašika neslanog putera, rastopljenog pa prohlađenog
• 1/2 kašikice praška za pecivo

Jaja držati neko vreme na sobnoj temperaturi da se zagreju. Brašno prosejati, pa dodati so i prašak za pecivo, izmešati. Maslac otopiti na laganoj vatri i ostaviti da se prohladi.

Jaja umutiti mikserom, postepeno dodavajući šećer. Dodati narendanu koricu limuna, ekstrakt vanile i brašno. Na kraju, sipati maslac i izmešati. Posudu poklopiti i ostaviti najmanje sat vremena u frižideru.

Pleh za madlene (udubljenja) premazati maslacem, sipati brašno u svako udubljenje, otresti višak brašna, pa ga staviti u frižider. 

Rernu zagrejati na 180° C. 

Modle za madlene puniti smesom tako da budu do oko dve trećine pune. Smesa će se sama tokom pečenja ujednačeno rasporediti po modli, nije potrebno da je poravnavate.

Peći desetak minuta.

A sledeći put ih pravim na malo drugačije, kad sam već pronašla modlice, šteta bi bilo da čuče besposlene na polici, zar ne?

Od ove količine smese napravila sam 24 kolačića. Ako budem želela da ih pravim češće, lepo bi bilo da kupim još jednu silikonsku tepsijicu, jer su kolačići veoma osetljivi, pa se modle moraju dobro oprati, pa opet premazati puterom i posuti brašnom pre ponovne upotrebe, bez obzira što su silikonski, jer je druga tura potamnela previše.

Ovi kolačići spadaju u grupu tzv. sponge cake, recimo - sunđerastih kolača, njihovo testo pomalo podseća na fini patišpanj. Spolja imaju prhku koricu, iznutra su meki i vazdušasti. Fragilni kolačići, suptilnog limunastog ukusa pravi su slatkiš za tiha jesenja popodneva uz čaj i dobru muziku.