I’ve always been scared to try madeleines. They always gave the impression of being hard to do, in the way that fancy French desserts are wont to do. But with a birthday dinner for my mother and one of my sisters coming up, where I was to bring dessert, I decided to take the plunge, ordered myself a non-stick madeleine pan and picked out one of the many recipes.
I think the key is to chill the pan, chill the batter, and make sure the each of the molds are thoroughly buttered. For one of the batches, I realized I’d forgotten to flour the pan as well, but each cookie slipped out just fine. I would still recommend flouring the buttered pan, though. Another point – when you place the batter in the mold, do not spread or tap pan to even out!
Madeleines are like individual, cookie-sized, pieces of lemon pound cake. Fluffy and light, and nothing texture-wise like a cookie. The recipe I found stuffed them with lemon curd, which I tried doing, but it didn’t get enough of the curd in the middle. So I glazed them with a simple lemon glaze instead and it ended up being the perfect touch. On the other hand, the lemon curd was good just using a spoon.
Madeleines
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar 151 grams
- 1 cup all-purpose flour 120 grams
- 1/2 teapspoon baking soda 3 grams
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter plus more for greasing pan
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest 2 grams
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 4 grams
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Melt the butter and set aside to cool.
- Plan mold pan into freezer while you make the batter
- Whisk the sugar and eggs in a large bowl until pale and foamy.
- Add the flour and baking soda to the batter, whisking to combine.
- Add the lemon zest, vanilla extract, and the cooled melted butter.
- Stir everything to mix; batter will be thick.
- Chill the batter for about 15 minutes in the fridge.
- Brush softened butter onto a madeleine pan and lightly flour, knocking off excess.
- Put a small cookie scoop worth of batter into the center of each mold (about 1 tablespoon). Do not spread or tap pan to even out!
- Bake the madeleines for about 9 to 10 minutes, until they're golden along the edges and spongy to the touch.
- Turn the madeleines out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
