Madeleine

Bonjour!!!

The French, known for their snobbish attitude, fashion runways and exquisite cuisine has not failed to impress (or irritate) me in one way or another.

I remembered the first time I was in Paris - I was snubbed by a French man when I asked him for directions to the Eiffel Tower. His reply "I don't speak English". Hey man, didn't you just speak English? Duh! So in retaliation, I asked my French-speaking friends the same words in French - je ne parle pas français meaning "I do not speak French". And this phrase had been in good use since then.

Regardless of my umplesant incident in Paris, the food never failed to wow me especially desserts and pastries. Well, it's logical since I have a sweet tooth. One of my all-time favourite has got to be madeleine.

It was a cold winter in Paris and I was tired from all the walking (shopping actually). So, I walked into a café and ordered a cup of hot chocolate and madeleine. The scallop shaped tea cakes may look ordinary at first sight but once you sink your teeth into those addictive pastry, the crispy edges combined with the moist and tender crumbs will have you begging for more.

Fast forward many years later, motherhood motivated me to search for a madeleine recipe as my princess simply loves them! I'm glad I'm finally able to bake these cutesy cakes for my family.

The steps of this recipe are pretty straight forward. The only challenge is finding the madeleine pan! I believe there are many types available in the market but I used the silicone version as that's the only one available.


Recipe from Joy of Baking

Ingredients needed

• 113 g unsalted butter
• 130g all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 100g granulated white sugar
• 30g light brown sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest (optional)

Steps

• In a small saucepan, melt the butter and then keep it warm
• In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt

• With your mixer, beat the eggs and sugars at high speed until the mixture is thick and pale (about 5-8 minutes)
• Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest (if using)
• Then sift about 1/3 of flour mixture over the whipped eggs and gently fold in, using a spatula or whisk
• Sift and fold in half of the remaining flour and then the rest (Do not over mix or the batter will deflate)

• Then take about 1 cup (240ml) of the batter and fold it into the warm melted butter. This will lighten the butter and makes it easier to fold into the batter
• With a spatula, gently fold the butter mixture completely into the egg batter
• Cover and refrigerate the batter for at least an hour or two, preferably overnight (can be stored in refrigerator for up to three days)

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Top and bottom heat. No fan mode
• Using a pastry brush, generously grease the mould of the madeleine pans with very soft or melted butter
• Then dust the mould with flour, tapping our the excess flour
• Refrigerate the pans until the butter hardens (about 10 minutes)
• Drop a generous tablespoon (can use ice cream scoop) of the batter into the center of each prepared mould, leaving the batter mounted in the center (this will result in the classic "humped" or "dome" appearance)
• Bake the madeleine for about 8-11 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and the center spring back when lightly touched (Do not overbake or they will be dry)
• Remove the pans from the oven and immediately tap each pan against the counter to release the madeleines.
• Place the madeleines on a wire rack to cool
• Best served immediately but can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for a couple of days or frozen for up to a month.
• Dust with powdered sugar before serving

All the ingredients needed. So simple right?

The egg mixture after beating on high for 5-8 mins

I've sifted the flour beforehand.
So I just pour and fold in

I prefer to use whisk to fold the flour in

Pour about a cup of egg mixture into warm butter
I didn't measure exactly - just estimation

Then pour the butter mixture back to the egg/flour mixture

Fold in the butter gently

I baked the madeleine the next day for my princess' play date with her friends. As I was in a hurry, I forgot to take photos of the preparation/baking process. If I bake madeleine (which I think I will) again, I will update the photos here.

Cooling time

My hump, my hump my hump my hump

My princess said it's the "seashell cakes"
Well, she's not wrong looking at this beautiful appearance

I didn't dust it with powdered sugar as I'm not sure if the other
parents like it or not

Note

1. The recipe calls for warm butter. As I do not have a warmer at home, I melted the butter in a microwave (simply too lazy to use saucepan) as the last step just before beating the eggs. This way, the butter will still stay warm by the time I use it
2. I tried baking with and without lemon zest. To me, it does not make any difference.
3. I tried both coating with butter then dusting with flour on my silicone mould and no coating/dusting and found that no coating/dusting works perfectly fine. The madeleine will slide out easily on its own, don't even need to tap. Maybe it's because I'm using a silicone mould. If I ever get my hands on those madeleine pans, I will attempt again.
4. Different oven varies with baking time. I had to bake mine in 15mins to create the golden edges. It may be due to my madeleine mould as well. So do check and adjust the baking time accordingly.
5. This recipe is perfect for a tea party. Just prepare the batter the night before and bake it the next day!

It was certainly fascinating to watch the madeleine rise slowly to create the "hump" effect. And even more satisfying when you see your family chomping them down and giving you a thumbs up 👍