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, reports The Guardian.
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.
Less than an hour before she was found by a nurse she had a visitor, an acquaintance named as Alain J, who had brought a packet of supermarket madeleines for her. Staff said they found it suspicious that he locked the door to Yvette’s room.
The case has been nicknamed “the madeleine trial”. The court will consider whether a cake was used to suffocate the woman.
Yvette B, who had been a resident of the care home for five years, was described as a warm, kind person by a family member. She needed help to eat, with her food usually cut into small pieces.