The traditional French madeleine – made famous by the writer Marcel Proust as a metaphor for childhood memories – is at the centre of a murder trial this week after a man was accused of using one of the miniature sponge cakes to kill an elderly widow.
The 92-year-old woman, Yvette B, was found dead in her bed in the Alzheimer’s unit of a care home in Tours in May 2019 with madeleine crumbs in her mouth.
