Definition: madeleine

A small shell-shaped cake made with flour, butter, eggs and sugar and flavoured with lemon zest. This small cake is said to originate from the town of Commercy in Lorraine, where Stanislas Leczinski, King of Poland and father-in-law of Louis XV, is said to have discovered and enjoyed it in 1755. This pastry, made by a peasant woman named Madeleine, was named by King Stanislas, who made it fashionable at Versailles and then in Paris through his daughter Marie, wife of Louis XV.