Marcel Proust’s diet of cafe au lait and croissants did little to improve his frail health. Céleste Albaret, his housekeeper, wrote in her memoir that, rather than madeleines, he had two bowls of black coffee, hot milk and two croissants when he woke in the afternoon, and then little else.
Without an espresso machine, you need a stove-top moka pot, an AeroPress or cafetiere. Preheat the water, use fresh, finely ground coffee (as fine as caster sugar), pack it loosely, and don’t allow the pot to boil dry or the coffee to boil. For moka pots and cafetieres, brew for eight to 10 minutes, then decant into cups or a warmed jug. Cafe au lait Proust-style was simply made with hot milk, but if you prefer creamy foam, heat milk until almost boiling, pour into a clean cafetiere and pump until frothy. Tap to remove any big bubbles and stir gently before using.
