Thursday, December 3, 2009

Chocolate Lime Madeleines (aka: I'm Pissed Off)

-Chocolate lime madeleines are a great way to work off the edge. Vodka works too.-

"No. I'm not okay. I'm cranky and I'm just a short push away from pissed off."

At this point it was best for BF and the rest of humanity to just leave me the hell alone. It's rare for me to brood. I obsess like a crazy person. One of the best obsessors you'll ever meet. I'm able to hamper, hover, worry, and fret to the point where I nervously pace at such a speed that I might actually spin the world under my feet and turn back time via the first Superman movie. Cranky, however, is something I rarely do as I'm usually able to stay somewhat level headed, and while I may worry at the drop of the hat it takes a lot for me to become upset.

Pissed off is simply a rare personal phenomenon. My personal aurora borealis but with more punching the wall and less pretty light.

Today was one of those occasions where somehow the stars had aligned and pulled at my personal poles. My emotional tides were high. My chakrahs misaligned and directing my energy through negative channels. I was ready to scream out in frustration. Smack a pillow. And at any moment I might simply snap at someone and verbally eviscerate them to the point that I would frolic in their blood and ichors. Or choke a bitch. Either way, someone would have to die.

There's plenty to blame my mood on. The pressure of finals. The stress of thesis deadlines approaching like quicksilver down a greased up, supersonic water slide. The annoyance of having to brave Walmart and Target (Pandaemonium and Hell, respectively) in an attempt to price shop for a new television to replace the ancient tube device that finally kicked it after 6 years. Top that off with general work stress and the panic of preparing for vacations and holidays and, yes, it's enough to get me riled up a bit.

It's times like these I need to work my anger out in the kitchen. I've had this recipe sort of sitting at the bottom of my to-do list for some time. Chocolate and lime are, in my opinion, a highly underrated combination. Fruity, dark, and a bit salty from the lime it seems to mingle well with bitter chocolate with a high cacao percentage.

Bitter chocolate to match a bitter mood.

Did it alleviate my stress? Not entirely. Only time and finishing up a few of my current commitments will do that. However, something to snack into takes the edge off, which, sometimes, is all you can really ask for.

-Not pictured: My seething rage.-

Chocolate Lime Madeleines
Makes 12 madeleines (one tray)

6 tablespoons of butter, plus extra to grease the pan
3 ounces of chocolate, 70% cacao
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest of one lime
2 large eggs
1/3 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of flour, sifted
pinch of salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Use some butter to generously grease the madeline pan.

2. Place the butter and chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and melt in the microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval until completely melted and incorporated. Stir in the lime zest.

3. Whisk the sugar, vanilla, and eggs together until thick and the batter falls off the whisk in a long, thick ribbon that is slow to dissolve. About 5 minutes.

4. Beat in the flour and salt.

5. Fold in the chocolate mixture.

6. Spoon or pipe into the madeleine tray slots. Bake for 12-14 minutes. Remove from the tray and cool on a wire rack.

18 comments:

  1. "not pictured: my seething rage."

    I DIE.

    How many times have I also felt the seething rage that only baking can tame...

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  2. Aw I hope everything is going a little more smoothly now! It's amazing that even when writing about a bad day you still manage to put together a compelling post. I just wanted to let you know that reading your blog helps take the edge off of any bad days I have and I'm so glad you do this.

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  3. I get cranky easily, but thankfully the kitchen totally calms me down (unless whatever I'm making gets messed up, then watch out!). And I love chocolate and lime together. Actually any citrus and chocolate really work for me... Orange, Grapefruit... lemon is really nice w/ white chocolate... Okay seriously, I am beginning to think reading food blogs in the morning is a bad bad thing...

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  4. Mmmm.
    You may be cranky.
    But those look delicious.

    Hope the emotional tides have turned!

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  5. I am so impressed that you can make stressed and pissed off such a compelling read - I just love your imagery.

    I am sorry you were having such a sucky day, I hope today is going better.

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  6. Garrett- I love your writing. You are hilarious and I hope you are feeling better now. Those sound like a good combination for those kinda cookies!

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  7. I'm feeling much better now, everyone, thank you. Still stressed from deadline but, eh, such is life. Plus, I just finished off the last madeleine. All 12 by myself. There will be jogging later.

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  8. Eating some of the baked goods may or may not take a bit more of the edge off ;)
    Keep on keepin on, the end is near. (I've been through grad school. It does end, eventually!)

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  9. Garrett, I heart your face so bad for the "not pictured: my seething rage" comment.

    I'm trying to think what quells my madness when it's a tough day. Definitely DON'T watch Sandra Lee. You're likely to firebomb the Food Network offices otherwise.

    Hope your day turns around - Carter

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  10. I'm going thru the same TV shopping from hell scenario myself. They seem to have a better selection at Best Buy and Fry's than Walmart and Target but I just hate the idea of spending $600-$900

    Maybe in the interest of our bank accounts and the enviroment we should just buy someone's old one on Craigslist for $100.

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  11. I'm in agreement with Crystal. Your writing is amazing. Reading about someone else's bad mood.....made me feel better and left me with a smile. Perhaps your honesty with your very bad mood is refreshing!
    Smile, if you dare!
    Oh and I also found Lime and bitter chocolate indeed compliments one another and enhances the chocolate taste. My husband had asked for a Chocolate Lime Cheesecake for his birthday, I groaned- it sounded a tad weird. It was wonderful.

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  12. I know just what you mean about baking away frustration. I think these would be the perfect antidote.
    Maybe someday soon I'll invest in that madeleine pan! I need it in my life and those cookies in my belly.

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  13. Rage = beating egg whites by hand for a pavlova! Ya gotta love culinary therapy.

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  14. Awww, sorry to hear Garrett. I know zackly what you're dealing with, we call it PMS!! ;-)

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  15. I read your blog and HAD to try these ... so last night at 9 p.m., I'm desperately searching through my pantry looking for all the ingredients. I, of course, don't own a madeline pan, so I decided on a jumbo muffin tin instead. I normally have a good supply of dark chocolate on hand, and was horrified to discover I was out! I improvised with some of that chocolate that says it's dark but really isn't ... you know what I mean. The irony is, I've never had a madeline in my life, so it's kind of funny that I was so fired up to make these. Anyways, they turned out yummy, but I can see why the madeline pan would be important. You would get the most delectable texture, which I could only imagine. My husband and I devoured all but one ... we didn't want to say that we ate the whole pan ourselves, and there definitely WON'T be running later. The upshot of the madelines is that now I'm looking for a madeline pan because I have to try them again. The only issue I had is that you don't list in the directions when to add the vanilla. I added it with the lime zest. Thanks for another delicious recipe, Garrett!

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  16. Becca - You did right with the vanilla. Sorry about the confusion! So glad you liked the recipe and neat to hear it works in muffin form. =)

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  17. Having never met you- I think that I can say that I love you - your blog ROCKS.

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  18. Will try this soon just for fun, because it brings back memories of the stress of my thesis at around the same time. cheers

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Hey, you're leaving a comment! That's pretty darn cool, so thanks. If you have any questions or have found an error on the site or with a recipe, please e-mail me and I will reply as soon as possible.
~Garrett