classic madeleines
On Friday, someone asked me if there was a food I was eager to try. I answered that I’d never baked or even tried a single madeleine in my whole life. Four hours later, I had done both, so emboldened by the suspicious ease of marking items off my wish-list, I next mentioned that I had yet to get that puppy I’ve been asking for. No dice on that one yet.
It might have helped that I nabbed a few months back the madeleine pan my father bought for my mother way back in the day when she, too, was absorbed with French cookery. I’ve realized lately that as much fun as it is to have shiny and new things for the kitchen, I like the appearance of the worn and, in this case, a wee dented ones better, from a time before there were silicon, non-stick and even miniature alternatives. All homage to old and beat up bakeware aside, I’m not sure with a recipe like the one I tried, I’ll be getting much more use out of it than mom ever did.
While it’s so unlike a Dorie Greenspan recipe to do anything but send us catapulting into a buzzy baked good heaven, the one I used from her Paris Sweets book didn’t yield what I consider the stuff of florid food writing volumes. The crumb was surprisingly big, almost cornbread sized, they were fairly spongy and not in a tender way and they definitely lacked for salt to balance and round out the sweetness. They also had no hump. My last gripe, that I underbaked the first batch (you know, the one I actually got good pictures of), can be wholly chalked up to inexperience, though it might have helped if the recipe told you to look for browned edges and not just a top that sprung back. (That said, this, this, that and the other still make that cookbook a highly-advised, fun purchase.)
Despite all the hoopla around madeleines, they’re really easy to make, did not barrage through an avalanche of ingredients and better yet, the items are fairly standard in a home kitchen, which means I have excuse not to bake up another batch very soon. But first I’d love some advice. Do you have a perfected technique, recipe or favorite experience with these vaulted cakes? In the meanwhile, I am posting the recipe I used for reference, in case it provides any insight into what may have gone wrong. And then I’m going to bug Alex to find out where my puppy is.
Classic Madeleines [Madeleines Classiques]
Adapted from Patisserie Lerch, via Paris Sweets: Great Desserts from the City’s Best Pastry Shops by Dorie Greenspan
3/4 cup (105 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon double-acting baking soda
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
5 tablespoons (2 1/2 ounces; 70 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1. Sift together the flour and baking powder and keep close at hand. Working in a mixer fit with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs and sugar together on medium-high speed until they thicken and lighten in color, 2 to 4 minutes. Beat in the lemon zest and vanilla. Switch to a large rubber spatula and gently fold in the dry ingredients, followed by the melted butter. Cover the batter with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap against the surface to create an airtight seal, and chill for at least 3 hours, perhaps longer–chilling helps the batter develop its characteristic crown, known as the hump or the bump. (The batter can be kept tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.)
2. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). If your Madeleine pan is not nonstick, generously butter it, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. If the pan is nonstick, you still might want to give it an insurance coating of butter and flour. If it is silicone, do nothing. No matter what kind of pan you have, place it on a baking sheet for easy transportability.
3. Divide the batter among the molds, filling them almost to the top. Don’t worry about smoothing the batter, it will even out as it bakes.
4. Bake large madeleines for 11 to 13 minutes, small ones for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the cookies are puffed and golden and spring back when touched. Pull the pan from the oven and remove the cookies by either rapping the pan against the counter (the madeleines should drop out) or gently running a butte knife around the edges of the cookies. Allow the madeleines to cool on a cooling rack. They can be served ever so slightly warm or at room temperature.
There was a thread on chow hound last November about this and a couple of people offered recipes. You’d probably have French people swooning over your Madeleines - they try to avoid the hump.
When I lived in Berkeley, and was attending the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, I spent some time working for Donsuemor Madeleines. All we made were madeleines, all day, and into the evening. We made them in huge batches of course, running pans through a dispenser (it was a factory, after all). At the bakery, each madeleine form was squirted with some clarified butter, then the batter filled the form, but not all the way up to the top. We baked them in a convection oven, 16 racks high. Anyway, they were wonderful and I gained a love of madeleines through working at the bakery,and often had lots of seconds in the freezer (they freeze beautifully). As is unavoidable, while packaging them, some fell to the floor here and there. They’d get picked up at the end of the day and bagged for the trash. But sometimes a friend and I would take the bags of unusable madeleines and bring them with us to Golden Gate Park, where we’d throw them out for the seagulls and other birds that frequented the lake. They loved the madeleines! I should make some soon.
My husband has been taking over the baking in our house, and I believe he used the Dorie recipe from her Baking at Home book. The madeleines are delicious, with just a hint of lemon.
I’ve made Madeleines few times now since the first batch in April - great small cakes to know how to make! I’m very keen to try matcha ones next. And I agree that it’s a great sense of accomplishment whenever you get to tick something off the list :)
I adore madeleines. I make them all the time. The recipe I adapted is from gourmet. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/105516 . It’s the September 2001 recipe. I always use cake flour or Lily White flour. Lily White’s soft winter wheat flour is closer to cake flour if I happen to run out. I have tried Gale Gand’s method of melted butter coat, freeze, coat, freeze, then mold and bake, also used Pam for Baking sprayed in the molds. Both methods work well, the flavor is better with the butter. For the dispensing of the the batter, I use take out soup spoons, one to scoop and the other to scoot the batter into the pans. If you are really comfortable with a piping bag, use the disposable ones, and fill the molds with that. I only fill the molds 2/3 full. I avoid the hump. I also under bake them. My family prefer the light golden color, and it stays moister and lasts longer. Use Meyer lemons for your zest, the flavor is so much better. I played around the other day and I also added fresh chopped mint in the batter for kicks. Gale Gand also has two recipes in her new book Vanilla / Chocolate. Her recipes are supposedly freezer friendly. I have yet to try the chocolate recipe. I’ll let you know how that one goes.
Oh, I’d much rather have madeleines (and the corresponding baking pan) than the puppy! But, the husband has won me over with supreme naming rights, so we’re getting a dog next week, after we get back from vacation. Oy. Since this new addition to the family will come with its share of pricey accessories, I’m left to have vicarious madeleine experiences, for now.
i’ve also never made or tasted a madeleine. i’ve wanted to ever since i saw the first transporter movie :) i’m hesitant to buy a pan that has but one use tho… maybe if i inherit one.
How did you visit Paris and not try madelines? I don’t like them, but my sister and mom went gaga over them in France. Sorry I don’t have any recipes to share, but they look pretty!
YUm. Yet another baked good that I got to indulge in, why chatting up Parker Posey, of course! tee hee
see you on the 4th!
I’ve tried to make madeleines a couple of times, and while I’m not sure I succeeded I know I didn’t fail (they tasted good, but could’ve have been way better). I think I didn’t let the batter rest long enough and my mother has individual little molds that start flipping over once filled. I really should get a madeleine tray for it, but I don’t make it often enough. Kudos on not mentioning Proust though, everyone goes on and on about him.
I remember first seeing this treat being made by Martha Stewart when I was in High School and being eager to try them. I had my first one, a Starbucks, attempt when I was in college thinking that they were a bit of a disappointment but didn’t rule them out due to the maker. When I moved to Houston, I gave the cake another go when I spotted them at a small French chain, La Madeline and now I’m hooked. They make theirs with a lemon flair, the zest in the cake and the icing. Perfect with coffee, a paper and a table in the morning, before the humidity sets in.
I tried honey madeleines, chocolate, coconut and lemon madeleines, orange madeleines and lemon madeleine and my favorites by far are choco, coco…madeleines and lemon madeleinse. You are right that it should be specified that the madeleine are done when slightly golden on the edges, otherwise they tend to taste like uncooked batter. The lemon madeleine recipe that I always use and it has never disapointed me is from Essentiel of baking by Williams Sonoma and the choco, coco, lemon is an adaptation from a Pierre Hermes choco recipe.
http://thym-thym.blogspot.com/2007/05/des-madeleines-pour-vous-madeleines-for.html
I use Julia Child’s recipe. It’s a version of her genoise cake, and they’re delicious. They are so easy, and I have no excuse either for the fact that I haven’t made them in a few years. The last time I made mine I made them with vanilla instead of lemon zest and then dipped them halfway into ganache. To say they were a hit would be an understatement. I hope you like them better with a different recipe, because they are delicious when they turn out.
I love stealing bakeware and cooking utensils from my dad. He calls me a thief. I smile, knowingly, and bake more cookies with his mixer in my apartment, sending them to appease him.
Madeleines are one of my favorite “special” baked treats that I usually reserve for myself when I’m on a day off from work and have time to putter about the kitchen and enjoy a long cup of tea or two. I’m just like Candy in post #7. My love affair with madeleines started after watching Transporter (strangely one of my top 5 movies ever, even though it’s not at all “girly”). When the hostage girl made them in his oh so rustic kitchen by the sea, I had to try them.
Deb - Since you were disappointed with your initial recipe, I have a version you must try when you put that battered madeleine pan to use again. The proportions are different from your recipe, so the crumb is different/lighter. 1.25 c. flour; 1 t. baking powder; 2 eggs; .75 c. confectioners sugar; zest from 1 lemon; 1 T. lemon juice; 6 T. unsalted butter, melted and cooled. The directions are basically the same as yours. This recipe is from The Cook’s Encyclopedia of Cookies by Hilaire Walden. I swear by that book for all cookie concoctions. Now, since I’m off work today, I think I’ll get out my pan and make some of my own. Thanks for the reminder! :)
I’ve never had a madeleine, even though they really call to me when I go into French bakeries (specifically, Financier on Pearl). Mmm…
It’s all about cardamom madelines with orange glaze. I think I might have found it in Martha Stewart once, but can’t remember…it’s a basic madeline with ground cardamom mixed with the dry ingredients, then the finished good gets topped with an OJ-powdered sugar-orange zest glaze. Pure cardamomy goodness.
I bought myself a silicone madeleine tray recently with the intention of making madeleines. I have not gotten around to that yet but I did use some leftover carrot cake batter with my tray, which achieved the same qualities as what I like about madeleines. Madeleines are perfect when served almost straight from the oven. They have a high surface-to-mass ratio which means more of the crispy outside in relation to a soft fluffy inside, especially when fresh and warm. Yum!
p.s. I strongly reccomend silicone baking trays
This reminds me of a Barefoot Contessa episode I saw last week. Ina made a few dishes for some sort of ladies lunch featuring 35 year olds clinging to sorority life. Ina made madeleines and one of the girls said “would you like to try a mandolin?” Funny stuff.
Mary — I had no idea! I though my hump failures would be silently ridiculed by the French. Thanks for cheering me up!
megc — Those are some lucky seagulls!
Lydia — Interesting. I wonder if these are the same, as I’ve noticed she’s repeated a few recipes between this and that cookbook. I’ll have to check. I love the lemon/vanilla play in them.
joanne — Thanks for the head’s up! I was sent the Vanilla/Chocolate book a bunch of months ago and though I’ve flipped lovingly through it several times, I have yet bake anything from it. (Much to Alex’s chagrin.) That said, the layout is bonkers, and not in a good way. Perhaps I’ll try the Epicurious one first!
RA — I hope this means we will be graced with an avalanche of puppy pictures, so that I can live vicariously through YOUR experience! Puppy and kitten pictures make the internet go ’round, anyway.
Hilary — We were too busy trying Berthillon ice cream, Poilane bread and Pierre Herme macaron. Oh, and a chocolate. And wine. It just wasn’t a priority but perhaps I’ll seek out a proper one next time, which I hope is soon.
Jenifer from Houston — I remember La Madeline! There was one in DC, and I remember eating many brunches there. Never tried the madeleines, though…
Rose — Thanks for the recipe. Those look gorgeous!
Jessie — Funny, I looked through Mastering the Art of French Cooking both Volume 1 and 2 for a recipe, but didn’t find a single one! Perhaps it’s in Baking with Julia? Yet another reason I need that book.
jennbec — Thanks so much for the recipe! I hope to try it, too. I found them particularly easy to make, so I have no qualms about trying all of them.
Yvo — Finanacier on Pearl seem fabulous, but whenever I’m there, I look but don’t try. Everything there just look impeccable, I’m overwhelmed by choice.
Because I like to torture myself………I’ve been watching Julia Child DVD’s as I do my morning workout (and try to diet!). Check out disc 3 of “Julia Child! - The French Chef, Volume 3″ (I copied Amazon link below) - and you can watch Julia make them and get her recipe! She also discusses Proust. She inspires me to try all kinds of things I thought I would never try!
http://www.amazon.com/Julia-Child-French-Chef-3/dp/B000HEWGXI/ref=pd_bbs_sr_10/103-1429459-7267012?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1183392107&sr=8-10
Madeleines are something I’ve often thought about trying but I’m definitely in the camp of folks who don’t want to buy a single-use pan. My grandmother provided me with a mountain of baking items bu she never made madeleines. On the other hand, Amanda’s suggestion with cardamom and orange glaze sounds like an excuse to hit the kitchenware store!
Hiya Deb,
Longtime lurker here :) I also am not a big fan of madeleines (I have never sampled a plain one that didn’t taste bland), but I have used the recipe in Fran’s Pure Chocolate cookbook several times and given plates of her chocolate madeleines as gifts. Not only do they look beautiful, but the coco powder adds a nice layer to the little cakes o’butter that definitely spruces them up. If you end up with the cookbook, I have to recommend the gold bar brownies as well. They take several hours to make, especially if you roast the almonds and make the caramel yourself, but they are seriously worth the effort!
http://www.amazon.com/Pure-Chocolate-Desserts-Creator-Chocolates/dp/0767916581/ref=sr_1_1/104-7584435-0267908?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1183394003&sr=8-1
I really enjoy your blog! Thanks for providing such interesting reading (and yummy recipes–I have tried many)
i never add anything to my madeleine batter. i have dipped them in a slightly stiff ganache, however, and they’re heavenly.
the recipe i use is a bit different than the one above, and my madeleines turn out lighter and fluffier and a bit taller than the ones in the picture. i use silicone madeleine pans my aunt bought me at Harrods, of all places.
here ya go!
Ingredients:
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup cake flour
Pinch of coarse salt
2 egg yolks, plus 1 whole egg
¼ cup sugar
1½ teaspoons vanilla
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Procedure:
1. Adjust oven rack to low center position; heat oven to 375°F.
Sift flours and salt together in small bowl; set aside.
2. Beat yolks with whole egg in bowl of electric mixer until light yellow and fluffy
(about 5 minutes on high speed if using a hand mixer) about 3 minutes.
3. Add sugar and vanilla and beat until a ribbon drops from beaters, about 5 minutes with hand mixer, 3 minutes with stand mixer. Gently fold in flour mixture,
then melted butter.
4. Spoon batter into molds. (Batter should come just flush with mold rim.)
Bake until tops are golden and cakes spring back when pressed lightly, about 10 minutes. Turn madeleines onto dry tea towel; cool to room temperature.
(Can be stored in airtight container up to 3 days or frozen up to 1 month.)
Hi!
I’ve read quite a lot about madeleine on the net, and I made some a long time ago.
It seems that to obtain the hump you should refrigerate the mould once filled with batter, and then bake it in a fairly hot oven: the batter on the edges will solidifie quickly, and the one from the center will have no room to expand and create the hump.
I have personally only tried Nigella’s madeleines with rose water. And they were delicious. I think I over whipped the egg whites, which resulted in the lightest airiest concoction ever. It simply melted on my tongue!
I’ve never even tasted a madeleine before! I think the cardamom ones with orange glaze (suggested by Amanda) sound really good though!
Here’s a great recipe:
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup (140 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2/3 cup (133 grams) granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Note: If you make miniature madeleines, reduce the baking time to about 7-9 minutes.
First, melt the butter and allow it to cool while you make the batter.
In a small bowl place the flour, baking powder and salt and whisk until well blended.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar at medium-high speed until the mixture has tripled in volume and forms a thick ribbon when the beaters are lifted (about 5 minutes). Add the vanilla extract and beat to combine.
Sift a small amount of flour over the egg mixture and, using a large rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture into the beaten eggs to lighten it. Sift the rest of the flour over the egg mixture and fold in being sure not to overmix or the batter will deflate.
Whisk a small amount of the egg mixture into the melted butter to lighten it. Then fold in the cooled melted butter in three additions. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or several hours, until slightly firm.
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Generously butter two 12-mold madeleine pans. Dust the molds with flour and tap out the excess. (Could spray pans with Bakers Joy instead.) (Make sure the pans are well greased or the madeleines will stick and be hard to remove.)
Drop a generous tablespoonful of the batter into the center of each prepared mold, leaving the batter mounded in the center. (This will result in the classic “humped” appearance of the madeleines.)
Bake the madeleines for 11 to 13 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and the centers spring back when lightly touched. Do not overbake these cookies or they will be dry.
Remove the pans from the oven and rap each pan sharply against a countertop to release the madeleines. Transfer the madeleines, smooth sides down, to wire racks to cool. The madeleines are best served the same day but can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 to 3 days or frozen, well wrapped, for up to 1 month.
When serving dust with confectioners sugar.
Variation: Lemon-Poppy Seed Madeleines - Substitute 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar for 2/3 cup white sugar, substitute 1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract plus 1 teaspoon finely minced lemon zest for 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and add l tablespoon poppy seeds after adding butter. Proceed with recipe.
Bittersweet Chocolate Madeleines - Melt 4 ounces bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate (in pieces) in top of double boiler (stainless steel bowl over a saucepan) until melted. Let cool slightly. Follow the above recipe but add the melted chocolate to the batter after adding the melted butter. Proceed with recipe.
I am salivating over here.
Proust is so useful! I will have to try your recipe once I have a madeleine pan. Thanks for the inspiration.
Proust is good for other things, too:
http://kittbo.blogspot.com/search/label/Proust
Hi Deb…I made the madeleines from the Baking at Home cookbook, which is slightly different than your recipe…but with the same result. Okay, but not overly special. Have you tried any other recipes yet? Would love to know if you’ve found anything better…I want to, but don’t want to end up with more “eh” madeleines!
Okay. I posted this in the wrong post…too many darn windows open.
I have an honest to goodness Madeleine addiction. The sad part is that I have never truly tasted one made properly, so even after my addiction I am not sure I am making them right. See, I first read about madeleines in these crazy french books, and then I saw them in cheesy french movies. I was fascinated. Then it seemed like everywhere I looked there was recipe for the darn things. The problem being though that after seeing pan after pan after pan sitting in various discount departments of dozens of stores I never picked one up. So my hunt was rather vigorous. Finally I found a wilton professional line pan. It is really heavy and rather dark. My first batch ( a basic lemon recipe from somewhere it was rather vague) was kind of like chewing on a dry chewy corn muffin. It was wierd because there was no corn! (although I think that would work pretty well now that I think of it) The second batch was more adventerous. Lavender and Lime. They came out oddly softer and heavenly smelling! They also were inedible after a day and turned into tough little speckled rocks.
Most efforts after that were about on par, and I thought I had given up on madelienes. Until I found an interesting recipe in the Ethnic Paris Cookbook. After copying it down on two eight post its because I am a poor college student, I set out to make this green concoction. It had these detailed steps that I really didn’t understand before. It had degrees of where I was to mix, what it was to look like, like an actual recipe! Most before were mix until creamy and foamy. THIS HAD DETAILS!
I am also quite the impatient one, and cleaning that monster kitchenaid is a daunting thought so I tend to do things by hand. With SPOONS. But I used the beast, and cleaned it well quite quickly then put it away. With that sideways glance those cute dogs give I was amazed at the speed I went through that sucker. The recipe not only turned out magnificently dellicate, it also lasted for a day or two.
So…madeleines can suck real easy. I eventually gave up this pan in favor of a lighter colored larger capacity (eighteen) pan from Crate and Barrell that set me back fifteen dollars. I gave up on healthier madeleines and decided that ones with more butter will ultimately last more than one day so you won’t have to force yourself to eat the entire batch in one sitting. Those twelve count recipes rarely make twelve, and if you make them too full they look horrendous. I can usually get about twenty to twenty four fully molded cakes from a batch. Don’t fill them too full, I know this is said plenty before but if the batter is right it will spread a lot and very quickly. Also don’t spread the batter out. Ugly misshapen blob in the middle, and you’re good. It melts and spreads and humps all on it’s own just let it work it’s magic.
Now though I’m trying really hard to make them healthy! Which I don’t think will happen, although I almost got a filled one to work. Hmm…experimentation awaits!