Classic Madeleines – Little Bites of Heaven

Madeleines – these delectable  offspring of  cookie and  cake seem  daunting  to make.  To top it most  classic  recipe  call for  browning  butter  and  thorough  whisking off eggs,  rest times   and  careful mixing  of   flour  and  eggs. Why bother with all these when  you can  get these  in the  store.

Brown butter  does  add a unique  taste.  And  the  classic  recipe and  techniques  have  their  value. But if  you  are  like  me,   someone  who  gets  called  away from the  kitchen  ever  so often, here is a   way simpler   recipe … and   it  tastes  heavenly right out of  the  oven.

Technically madeleines  are  bite sized  sponge  cakes.   These   are  made  in the  madeleine  molds    and  acquires a  cookie  like   bite.  Call them   a cookie  if  you like ‘coz  these are perfect   with a  cup of  hot  tea.

The  recipe here  has a  little  baking  powder,  which  can  very well be avoided.  I add  it  as an    insurance to  compensate  for  loss  of   aeration   when  mixing  in   the   flour. Don’t worry, as  long  as    the  eggs  are   fluffed  up  well, there is  very little  chance  of  messing  up this  recipe.

These are  the steps  to making  madeleines …

Let me explain  these   in a little  detail. (1)Melt the  butter over low  heat  or  in a  microwave .  Set  aside  to cool a bit. It  should  be  cool , but  not  solidified.  If  you plan to brown the  butter   it,  do not  use  microwave  and  melt the butter  on stove top over low heat until  it  is  melted  and  light brown  solids  start  to appear.

(2)Sift  the   dry ingredients  together and  set  aside.  If  the  sugar  is  not  fine powder it in a blender. Pre-heat  the  oven to  375°F (190°C). If  using  metal madeleine molds butter  it   well, so that  all the  nooks  and  crannies  are  properly  greased.

(3, 4, 5) Beat the  eggs  well  till they have  doubled  in volume.   Do this  by hand , if  you must,  but I  recommend the  mixer.  Indeed  this is a  good  workout for  the   arms 🙂 .   Add the  vanilla  essence  and  mix  well .  (6, 7)Slowly add  the  sugar  and  beat  well to incorporate , taking  care  to  keep the  mix  aerated  well.

(8, 9)Add  the  sifted  dry ingredients to the  egg mix  in batches .  Mix in  the  flour using circular motions (low paddle  setting in the  stand  mixer). Stop mixing as  soon as all the  flour is blended in. (10, 11) Slowly  stream in the  melted butter  and   mix using a  spatula . You  will see the  melted  butter  pooling  on top of  the  batter initially ,  but  after  a  few  turns  with the  spatula  the  butter  mixes in  and  the  batter  changes  visibly  and  acquires a  silky sheen .  Stop mixing  as  soon as  all traces  melted butter is  gone .

(12) Transfer  to the  waiting  molds , about 3/4  way full. Bake  for  8 to 10  minutes  if  using a  metal pan ,  or 10 to 12  minutes in a  silicone pan. Remove  as  soon as they   turn  brown on the  sides .

Using Silicone Pans  – Silicone pans  are   very convenient  when  making  madeleine  as  they don’t  require any extra  greasing.  But placing these directly on the oven  rack  often  times  tends  to tilt  the  molds  and skews  the   shape.  In order to prevent  this  place  the   silicone  mold  on a  baking  sheet  and  transfer  to the  oven. Remove   it   from the  sheet  and  place  directly on the  rack at   around 8  to 10  minutes  and  finish cooking to the  desired  brownness .  Leaving  the cookie sheets for  total  duration of  cooking  browns  the  bottoms  unevenly.

The  metal pans  on the other hand, create a  very even  browned  look  and  shaves a  few  minutes off  the  cook time  as  well .

If you try this recipe, I would  love  to hear  about it ! Leave a COMMENT, RATING , share a photo and TAG me on INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK  OR  GOOGLE+  

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