A truly unique little cake, browned and crispy on the outside and spongy and soft on the inside. Perfect delight for an afternoon cup of tea or morning coffee. Create the classic lemon-scented madeleines or in many other flavors. Chocolate, rose, vanilla, lavender, and orange are all popular versions. Some add mini chocolate chips and some people add a glaze, but I prefer them simple and straightforward.
How To Brown the Butter?
In this classic recipe, you would normally brown the butter slightly to add nuttiness. Browning butter can be challenging as it can quickly turn from nutty to burnt. Of just simply melt the butter and skip the browning part. Your madeleines will still be delicious.
This is a Julia Child recipe and I modified it a bit. Many madeleine recipes takes a slightly different approach in that you mix the flour, sugar, and eggs first and add the melted butter last. Most of the time when you bake the butter is usually creamed with the sugar, then the eggs are added and the flour stirred in last.
What Kind Of Baking Pan or Mold To Use?
It’s common to use the scallop shell pans to bake them in, which is something most newer cooks don’t usually have around. Which I did not and I decided to use my Twinkie baking pan. It’s worth it to check around with your friends and family to see if someone has the pans to borrow. You can also pick them up at garage sales and they are available online though places like Amazon. Try to get two as most recipes will make 2 dozen and it’s a drag to have to wash and rebutter the pans between baking sessions. It also really helps to have a pastry brush to coat the pans with the butter and flour mixture.
When To Serve?
Fresh from the oven madeleines are at their best. They will keep for a day or two in an airtight container, but will start to lose that nice crisp texture after awhile. It also depends on how you would like to decorate them. In my case, after I removed the twinkie shaped la madeleines on to the cooling rack. I sliced each to make a dozen pastry morsels. I used a sandwich bag and filled it with coconut cream cheese frosting. Then I snipped the corner and squeezed the icing on top of each pastry.
INGREDIENTS
1 stick plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
Powdered sugar (optional)
EQUIPMENT
Small saucepan
Small bowl
2 medium mixing bowls
Measuring cups and spoons
Whisk
Spatula
2 Madeleine pans
Pastry brush
Small sieve for dusting with powdered sugar (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Melt the butter. Melt the butter in a small saucepan. If you feel you can get it slightly toasty brown, go right ahead and do so by leaving it to bubble in the pan until it smells toasty and starts to color. Just remember that the butter will turn very quickly from toasty to burnt and that it will continue to color after it is off the heat unless you pour it into a new container. Spoon 3 tablespoons of the butter into a small bowl or cup and set aside. Let the rest of the butter cool slightly.
2. Prepare the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients in separate bowls. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 cup of the flour and the sugar, and set aside. In another medium bowl, whisk the 2 eggs with the vanilla, salt, lemon juice, and lemon zest until the eggs are frothy.
3. Combine the dry and wet ingredients. Add the eggs to the flour. Using a spatula, stir until just combined. Add the remaining 1 stick melted butter and continue to stir. It may take a minute for the butter to blend into the mixture but do not over mix.
4. Rest the batter. Cover the bowl with a plate (or plastic wrap) and place in the refrigerator to rest at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
5. Prepare the pans. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon flour to the 3 tablespoons reserved butter and stir to combine. Using a pastry brush, brush the interiors of the shells with the butter-flour mixture so that they are well coated. Place the pans in the freezer for at least an hour.
6. Preheat the oven and fill pans. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the batter from the refrigerator and one pan from the freezer. Fill each well in the madeleine pan with 1 tablespoon of the batter. Remove the other pan and fill in the same way.
7. Bake the madeleines. Place both pans on a baking sheet for easy handling and place in the oven. Check after 8 minutes and rotate plans. Check again 5 minutes later. The madeleines should be browning around the edges and puffed up a little in the middle. Using your forefinger, press lightly on the center hump — when the madeleines are finished baking, it should spring back at your touch.
8. Cool and dust with sugar. Remove the madeleines from the oven and let cool for 2 minutes. Using a fork, gently loosen the madeleines from their molds and then tip the whole pan out onto a cooling wrack or tea towel. Once cool, dust lightly with powdered sugar and serve. If you are freezing or storing the madeleines, do not dust with the sugar until you are about to serve.
9. To store. Store cooled madeleines in an airtight container for a few days or freeze them in a double wrapping of plastic wrap for several months. Let the cakes defrost before dusting with sugar.
Tell me how you baked your La Madeleines and what is your favorite flavor in the comments below.
Photo Cover Credit: Adrienne Balkum | La Madeleine Twinkie Cookie
