Madeleine definition

Etymology

From , earlier , of uncertain origin; attributed in some sources to a 19th-century pastry cook Madeleine Paulmier whose existence is now considered dubious. (Cf. Oxford English Dictionary, Trésor de la Langue Française)

Noun

A small gateau or sponge cake, often shaped like an elongated scallop shell.
- 1981, CK Scott Moncrieff & Terence Kilmartin, translating Marcel Proust, Swann's Way, Folio Society 2005, p. 44:
  
  And suddenly the memory revealed itself. The taste was that of the little piece of madeleine which on Sunday mornings at Combray [...] my aunt Léonie used to give me, dipping it first in her own cup of tea or tisane.
- 2003, Emily Luchetti, A Passion for Desserts, Chronicle Books 2003, p. 20:
  
  Madeleine batter can be made in advance and refrigerated.
Something which brings back a memory; a source of nostalgia or evocative memories (used with reference to its function in Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time).
- 2001, James Carroll, Constantine's Sword, Houghton-Mifflin 2001, p. 223:
  
  The Robe was thus fixed in my mind as a symbol, and in my memory as a madeleine, of Jewish evil.
- 2005, Roger Ebert, Rogert Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2005, p. 784:
  
  Every five years or so, in the middle of another task, I'll look at them and a particular cover will bring memory flooding back like a madeleine.