Remembrance of things hard

“She sent out for one of those short, plump little cakes called ’petites madeleines,’ which look as though they had been moulded in the fluted scallop of a pilgrim’s shell.” 

Proust, Remembrance of Things Past

Fructober has commenced! I’m super exciting to be continuing my ‘I Quit Sugar/I Quit Crap’ journey. I’m enjoying having more energy, the most noticeable difference is at nights. After working all day, being pregnant, having two small kids, I was finding that I was pretty useless in the evenings. I’d put the kids to sleep, have a bath, then that would be the end of it. Now however, I can actually have a conversation  with TSH, watch some SBS Gourmet Farmer, read, tidy up, get ready for the next day, lose my mobile but find it again, all without falling over in exhaustion. It’s been a pretty big transition in a short period of time, so I am completely impressed.

To be honest, I am starting to have stronger cravings for sweet things, but have not caved at all.  It’s getting worse, not better. A wave of want sweeps over me, but then it usually subsides if I ignore it for long enough. I received a great tip about sugar-free strategy from Birdseedblues who told me to set a goal and put a positive affirmation with it so instead of saying to myself ‘I can’t eat sugar’, I should say, ‘I will eat foods that will nourish my body’ etc . It’s been working! Whenever I see a Lindt Chocolate ball or  some Ben & Jerry’s Vermonster ice cream, I say to myself, ‘I will eat foods that are good for me’.

Mine looked nothing like these.

And even though you may think I am a stunning vision of sugar-free perfection, I am not. Over the weekend I decided to make some Madeleine cakes, the baking urge just took over.  Mmmm Madeleine cakes, those buttery light lemon-infused cakes that Proust bangs on about in Remembrance of Things Past. It’s something that I have always wanted to bake so finally I went online here and ordered a special Madeleine shaped bake tray*. As soon as it arrived I couldn’t wait so I found a traditional recipe online and went to work.  I used Dextrose instead of sugar and adapted the recipe according to my fantastic David Gillespie Sweet Poison app so they could be officially be called ‘sugar-free’.  (I was being a bit naughty indulging my baking needs but did it in the least damaging way by using Dextrose ☺ and thereby creating fake Madeleines.)

My plan had been to make a beautiful tray of them and send a picture to one of my friends who has a daughter called Madeleine.  However, in true Lou Lou style, my planning and creative direction had been excellent, two-fold better than my execution. In the end, my ‘light buttery French treats’ turned out to be heavy bricks of Swedish unsalted butter; all the wrong size, all dense as hell. They were so heavy and hard I am sure they could have been classed as a weapon. Ate them, of course! Luckily I have about a year till we move to Sydney giving me plenty of time to perfect my fake Madeleine’s for the real Madeleine.

Next up: I’ll be destroying this recipe

*I was super impressed however, with my new Madeleine baking tray from www.lyckasmedmat.se  (loose translation means ‘success with food’ oh the irony of me shopping here!!!) They are a Swedish cooking supply company based in the very north of Sweden. Loved their website and the quality of the tray. And the tray arrived quickly which was great because I’m pregnant and very often hungry. I feel that my complete-lack-of ‘success with food’ rests solely at my feet. It wasn’t the dextrose, it wasn’t the baking tray, it was my crap folding skills, but do you think I am fazed? Nup. Even when I do crap I still think I’ve done great, so next up I’m going to destroy these autumn perfect Sage and Polenta Madeleine’s from Donny Hay – can’t wait!

Have you ever tried to bake these babies?