madeleine

[After Madeleine Paulmier, 19th-century French pastry cook.]

(MAD-uh-lin)

noun
1. A small, rich cake baked in a fluted, shell-shaped pan.
2. Something that evokes memory or nostalgia.

Etymology
Contraction of French gâteau à la Madeleine, literally Cake Madeleine. Who this Madeleine was isn't clear. The recipe for this cake has been attributed to the French cook Madeleine Paulnier/Paumier but that's unsubstantiated.

French; small fancy sponge cake baked in a dariole mould (or sometimes a scallop-shaped mould). English version is victoria sponge mixture topped with jam and coconut.

[MAD-l-ihn; mad-LEHN] Exalted by Proust in his Remembrance of Things Past, the madeleine is a small, buttery sponge cake that's eaten as a cookie, often dipped in coffee or tea. These feather-light cakes are baked in a special madeleine pan (or plaque), which has 12 indentations that resemble an elongated scallop shell. Madeleines are best eaten fresh from the oven, while the inside is moist and warm and the exterior exquisitely crisp.