Reader Dilemma: Madeleines
Our second reader dilemma is from Melanie, who asks:
I’ve decided to nix cake at my wedding and, in its place, serve madeleines, my all time favorite! The caterer is serving raspberry sorbet and plan on garnishing each serving with a madeleine. We’d like to still do the traditional cake cutting, even if it is plucking a cookie from a tray and serving it to each other. My question is – what is an original, inspired, great way to show off these wonderful cookies?
Dessert displays are all the rage, so help Melanie out! What are your ideas for displaying madeleines?
I love, love, love that idea. I would say a great display would be to buy one of those basic, cardboard cupcake trees: http://www.cupcaketree.com/ which can be beautifully decorated with some spray paint and ribbon to coordinate with your wedding colors. Instead of the cupcakes, you can have those Madeleines layered on each tier.
A great way for you to still get in your traditional cake cutting is to have your caterer/baker just bake you a “top tier” and you can put that little cake at the top tier of the cupcake tree. When the time comes to cut the cake, you’ve got a cake to cut! Hope this helps!
Oh gosh. Easy peasy. You cut 20-30 paperback copies of Proust’s “A La Recherche du Temps Perdu” into bowls and display the madeleines in and amongst the pages….
cute idea, lpc, but that only works if people get the reference. the madeleine scene is what, 3 pages out of a thousand-page semi-memoirist novel? there’s also an awful of of adultery, betrayal, and generally dysfunctional attitudes towards relationships to quite match the intended feeling of most weddings. is the couple particularly defined by their literary tastes, and do those tastes lean towards navel-gazing frenchmen? if they aren’t already fans of proust, i’d recommend a more traditional tiered arrangement on a few scattered glass platters, with something bright to punch up the yellow. sorbet will be gorgeous (and delicious), but since it won’t hold up ten minutes in the display, maybe flowers? i’ve seen some madeleines with colored edges, as well, but i’m not sure if that’s the kind of look they’re going for.
My suggestion clearly depends on whether the couple in question enjoys sideways glances, irony, unstated references, literature etc. I think the specific content of A la Recherche doesn’t matter too much. It’s like To Be Or Not To Be. It’s iconic, to a certain crowd. Otherwise, sure, tiers, colors, fronds, bling, candles, flowers, the works.
Ha, LPC. I think I like your qualifications for the couple more than the idea itself.
I think you should take the Proust reference more in the direction of the madeleine obsession itself, and not the work as a whole, and serve the sorbet in teacups with madeleines dipped in.
OK. I know. I was being a bit of a curmudgeon. I beg your forbearance and should my daughter ever get married I promise to throw all irony aside. I rather like the teacups idea, madeleines on the side. Flowered teacups, the fluted kind, with the gold rim. A few chips. I probably have some in my cupboards…
