Monday, November 10, 2008

Pear and cinnamon madeleines

Pear cinnamon madeleines4

I have a cousin who is less than a month older than me. One could see that as an opportunity for a close friend. But not me. She and I were enemies growing up – the more our parents forced us to be play together, the more we loved to punch each other down. Her parents came to the point of enrolling her into the school I attended. It never worked – we couldn’t stand one another.
I would always get the worst punishments, because I would never cry nor apologize, even though she was three times my size - yes, I was really petite. And mean. :)

I was such a bad kid that my love for pink would be mine and mine only. Pretty much everything I owned was pink – clothes, shoes, notebooks – and my cousin was not allowed to like pink, too. No, not her. I’d always tell her that green was her favorite color.
To this day I cannot believe what a little devil I used to be. :)

This story crossed my mind when I was taking these photos. I’ve realized that even though my favorite color is blue, my love for pink is not dead.

Pear cinnamon madeleines

Pear and cinnamon madeleines
from here

150g all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
100g unsalted butter, softened
50g light brown sugar
75g white sugar
2 eggs, lightly whisked
½ cup pear sauce*
granulated sugar for coating – I used caster sugar for that


Preheat oven to 180ºC/350ºF; spray madeleine molds with non stick spray or generously butter them.
In a bowl combine flour, baking powder, and cinnamon; set aside. In a mixer cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add in eggs and pear sauce and beat until combined. Stir in the flour mixture and fold until the flour has been incorporated into the wet mixture. Place a heaping teaspoon of the mixture in each mold and bake for 12-14 minutes or until the tops are golden. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes in the tray and then coat lightly with sugar.

* I peeled, cored and chopped 2 small, ripe pears, then cooked them in the microwave oven for 2 minutes; smashed them with a fork, set aside to cool then pushed through a sieve to remove excess water.
The pear flavor was very subtle - maybe it would have been stronger if I has used store bought pear sauce.

Makes 24 – I halved the recipe and got 16

24 comments:

  1. Ha ha you were really mean it seems. But I can t beleive that you make such nice things :) I love pink too. its so girly and romantic:) these look so delicious. Pity I don t have a madeleines pan :(

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  2. Pink is a "soothing" colour Patricia...maybe it keeps you calm around your cousin!..LOL! the madeleines look delicious as usual. worthy of any pastry shop.

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  3. I guess every girl had her 'pink time' even if I remember clearly to like red when I was a child...
    Anyway, pink compliments well your lovely madeleines !

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  4. Patricia I can't imagine you being mean!

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  5. Ahrr... I had a cousin who's 6 months older than me... And she used to be mean to ME! I actually wrote down on a piece of paper:
    Dear God,
    Why is ___ so bad?

    Isn't that funny? Ha ha ha. Anyway, it's all water under the bridge now. Thank goodness we didn't even have the option of going to the same school (co-eds were not big then). Lovely madeleines-- Proust would be so proud :)

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  6. Those madeleines look divine. I hope Ted thinks so too, so he'll offer to make them for me.

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  7. I can't imagine you ever being mean, Patricia! Are you and your cousin on speaking terms yet? Maybe if you waved some madeleines under her nose she'd make nice to you.

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  8. i haven't baked madeleine for a long time, those look yummy!

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  9. Very Fall like...I love the flavors you have picked.

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  10. What wonderful fall flavors for a madeleine. I have a lonely madeleine pan sitting in my cupboard that has yet to be used!

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  11. I can't picture you being at all mean! But I think we all did those kinds of things as kids. I feel like I did everything in my power to make my little sister feel left out. Now she's my best friend.

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  12. Patricia...dare I say I see my daughter in you...LOL! Black is her colour of choice & she can only be hers! Unfort for her, it's mine too, but she daren't cross the line! But the brother gets the rough edge 24 hours, but I hope/know(???) it should be fine when they grow up! What pretty madeleines these are...

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  13. Patricia, as a kid, I was also petite hooligan. Today, I'm older.
    Some things never change.

    I like the look of those Madeleines; the pear addition is a nice touch!

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  14. Haha sounds like you were quite a delightful little kid. =) These madeleines look gorgeous! I adore madeleines but never think to make them. Thanks for reminding me.

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  15. LOL I think we all had a bit of devil in us. Do you get along now? Or is it lifelong enemies? :lol:

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  16. That's hysterical, Patricia! The meanie little girl who loves pink and has turned into the baker. I love it! And I love the look of those madeleines!

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  17. Patricia, the cookies are so beautiful. I am not sure I could bring myself to eat them. Ok, maybe I could. Beautiful cookies!

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  18. My love for pink is not dead either, heehee :) Madeleines with pear sound heavenly!

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  19. Natalie, I was a piece of work. :)

    Pete, hahahah, maybe! Thank you, my friend.

    Vanille, red is my second favorite color nowadays. :)

    Pam, I was! :)

    Mark, my cousin was chubby and I was skinny, so can you imagine the nicknames I gave her back then? :)
    I'm glad you like the madeleines! Thank you!

    Lydia, my fingers are crossed for you. :)

    Lynn, I was a piece of work! We are fine now, I'm glad about that. :)

    Liz, you should, darling!

    Pea, I know you would change cinnamon for nutmeg. ;)

    RecipeGirl, you must use that! :)

    Sarah, I'm glad to hear you and your sis are OK, now!

    Deeba, I had a laugh with you - your daughter does sound like me, I'll say! She's a piece of work, isn't she? :)

    Marysol, I could come up with such nasty nicknames for my cousin... Since I could beat her up, I would try to win her over some other way. :)

    Ashley, I hope you try these!
    And I was a handful, I'll say. :)

    Lorraine, we do get along now! She was at my wedding and all. :)

    Toni, that was quite a change, wasn't it? :)

    Gigi, they were gone pretty fast! :)
    Thank you, sweetie!

    Joey, I want to make them with apples, now.

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  20. I bow down to you Madeleine Queen. A great combination!

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  21. Ah, you have given me another delicious way to bake with pears. Thank you, dear!

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  22. Ah, you have given me another delicious way to bake with pears. Thank you, dear!

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  23. Pear and cinnamon and madeleines! Oooh...yum.

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  24. I love pink! I was always sad that I didn't have cousins my age, but maybe it wasn't such a bad thing!

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