Madeleine

A madeleine is a small, shell-shaped sponge cake with a distinctive humped back, its batter rested overnight before baking. It's the cake immortalized by Proust — a single bite triggering a flood of childhood memory in In Search of Lost Time — and it's baked in a scallop-shell mould that gives the cake its permanent, recognizable shape.

What it actually is

A simple sponge batter of flour, egg, butter and sugar, flavoured with lemon zest or occasionally orange blossom, is mixed and then rested in the fridge for several hours or overnight before baking — a step that's not optional if the cake is meant to develop its signature hump. Poured into a shell-shaped mould, the cold batter hits a hot oven and the sudden temperature shock is what pushes the centre up into the characteristic dome on the back of the cake.

The rest is the whole trick: skip it, and the madeleine bakes flat and even, missing the hump that's the entire visual point of the cake.

How it's served

• Warm from the oven, the shell ridges visible on one side, the hump on the other.
• Alongside tea or coffee, as an afternoon treat rather than a formal dessert.
• Plain, occasionally dipped in chocolate on one end.

Writing it on a menu

• Flag gluten, egg and dairy; the sponge batter carries all three.
• Note if you make them fresh, rested overnight, since that's the genuine version and worth distinguishing from a same-day batter that won't develop the hump.
• Mention the lemon zest or orange blossom flavouring specifically, since both are traditional and some guests have a preference.
• Say that they're best eaten warm and fresh; a madeleine baked ahead and held loses the contrast between crisp edge and soft centre.