Yes, I know they look nothing like traditional madeleines – I couldn’t find a tin anywhere (not even TK Maxx and they normally come up trumps for everything!) But me being me couldn’t leave the shop without buying at least one tin so voila! Madeleine flavoured blobs!
This week’s choice of traditional madeleines (P167 Baking:From My Home to Yours) was from Tara from Smells Like Home. For once a recipe that doesn’t yield enough for the street and doesn’t cost a fortune (well, it wouldn’t if I didn’t buy a new tin every time I baked!)
Results – Tasty but not earth-shattering – they just tasted like the remnants of cake I cut off celebration cakes each week to level them.
Scores: I am on my own this week as they were so quick to make no-one is home from work/school yet – and I may eat them all before they get home!
Taste: 8 out of 10
Ingredients: 10 out of 10
Ease to prepare: 9 out of 10 (Only took 9 mins in the oven but had to do Dorie’s signature chill in the fridge for 3 hours first!)
Recipe follows below – I used Self-raising flour and did away with the baking powder and salt.
Traditional Madeleines
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup sugar
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 stick (6 Tbsp) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Confectioner’s sugar, for dusting
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Working in a mixer bowl, or in a large bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the eggs to the bowl. Working with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together on medium-high speed until pale, thick, and light, 2-3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. With a rubber spatula, very gently fold in the dry ingredients, followed by the melted butter. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the batter and refrigerate it for at least 3 hours, or for up to 2 days. This long chill period will help the better form the hump that is characteristic of madeleines.
(For convenience, you can spoon the batter into the Madeleine molds, cover and refrigerate, then bake the cookies directly from the fridge; see below for instructions on prepping the pan.)
Getting ready to bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter 12 full-size madeleine molds, or up to 36 mini madeleine molds, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. Or, if you have a nonstick pan, give it a light coating of vegetable cooking spray. If you have a silicone pan, no prep is needed. Place the pan(s) on a baking sheet.
Spoon the batter into the molds, filling each one almost to the top. Don’t worry about spreading the batter evenly, the oven’s heat will take care of that. Bake large Madeleines for 11-13 minutes, and minis for 8-10 minutes, or until they are golden and the tops spring back when touched. Remove the pan(s) from the oven and release the madeleines from the mods by rapping the edge of the pan against the counter. Gently pry any recalcitrant madeleines from the pan using your fingers or a butter knife. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool to just warm or to room temperature.
If you are making minis and have more batter, bake the next batch(Es), making certain that you cool, then properly prepare the pans before baking.
Just before serving, dust the madeleines with confectioner’s sugar.
