Our first entry in this year’s Office Cookie Bake-Off appeared in the office yesterday: two varieties of madelines. The first was a Madeline with Rose Water, and the second, a Madeline with Orange Blossom Water.
I don’t believe I’ve ever had a madeline before, but they are quite yummy. They’re just slightly squishy, similar to a more cake-like texture than crumbly cookie. I could also definitely taste vanilla in both varieties (which I find to be a good trait in a baked good, so yay).
The funniest thing was that I could smell the water types in each cookie, but I didn’t taste much of it. The rose smell did not translate into taste (for me, anyway, unless I was mistaking it for vanilla), but I could definitely smell it as I ate the cookie. I always find that odd – it happens when I make baked goods with lavender sometimes, too. The orange blossom water lent a slight orange taste to that cookie, but it was nowhere near an “orange-flavored” cookie. Both additions are very subtle, and I think add a different level of interest than we are use to in baked goods, as there is this separation between what we smell and what we taste (for me, anyway).
