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Monday, June 04, 2007

I heart Madeleines

Madeleines

Madeleine.

A lovely name to match them lovely little tea cakes.
It's perhaps a bit too early but I've already decided that if/when I have a daughter, I'm going to call her Madeleine. ;)
Up until the start of this year, I have never even tasted a madeleine. I've seen plenty of them, read about them and drooled over them but I've never really tasted them. The excuse used to be, "I haven't got a madeleine pan. Can't make one without a madeleine pan, that's just wrong".

Then it became, "What do you mean I have to leave it in the fridge to sit for 8hours!".

And eventually, when I finally got my fat arse into the kitchen to make them, it became.. "OMG.. why did I ever put off making these little cakes"

I have made madeleines 5 times since January when I finally got me a madeleine pan. 5 times and not once did they end up on this blog. Why not? you ask...

There are various reasons, but mostly because we just can't resist them! Alv and I would stuff one after another in our gobs and even when I've put away some for blogging, they would disappear when I get to them. So this time, I quickly declared that THEY WERE NOT TO BE CONSUMED until after I was done with them (for the blog you see.. all for sake of the blog).

There are plenty of madeleine recipes around, even ones that doesn't require sitting the dough overnight (just 30mins - 1hr) before baking them. But this is the one recipe that I keep going back to, even though there are at least 3 other recipes in the my ever increasing collection of cookbooks.

I no longer find the 8hr waiting period troublesome because it now means that I can prepare the dough mixture on Friday night, stick it in the fridge overnight and have freshly baked madeleines ready by lunch time Saturday. Mmmm.. who needs lunch when you have madeleines :)

Honey Madeleines
*adapted from this book

170g unsalted butter
4 large eggs
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 tbsp firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup full flavour honey (chestnut or any wildflower variety)
1.5 cup plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

*extra butter for greasing
  1. Make brown butter by melting butter in a saucepan and cooking it until milk solids fall to the bottom and it turns rich hazelnut brown. Set aside and let it cool until room temperature.
  2. In a large bowl beat eggs, caster sugar, brown sugar and honey until pale and foamy.
  3. Sift flour, baking powder and salt and fold into the batter.
  4. Fold in brown butter.
  5. Cover and leave in the fridge for at least 8 hours. (At this point I generally just stick it in the fridge and go to bed)
  6. Preheat oven to 180deg and grease your madeleine pans with melted butter.
  7. Fill in madeleine pans about 1/2 or 3/4 full. Don't over fill or this will cause the batter to overflow during cooking and your madeleines will end up sticking together.
  8. Bake in the oven for about 8 to 10mins until the bumps rise.
  9. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5mins before removing them from the pan and repeating the process with the remaining batter.

Here's a chocolate variation of the above.

Chocolate Madeleines
*adapted from the above recipe

170g unsalted butter
4 large eggs
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3 tbsp dutch cocoa powder
1.5 cup plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

*extra butter for greasing
  1. Make brown butter by melting butter in a saucepan and cooking it until milk solids fall to the bottom and it turns rich hazelnut brown. Set aside and let it cool until room temperature.
  2. In a large bowl beat eggs, caster sugar and brown sugar until pale and foamy.
  3. Sift flour, baking powder and salt and fold into the batter.
  4. Fold in cocoa powder, followed by brown butter.
  5. Cover and leave in the fridge for at least 8 hours.
  6. Preheat oven to 180deg and grease your madeleine pans with melted butter.
  7. Fill in madeleine pans about 1/2 or 3/4 full. Don't over fill or this will cause the batter to overflow during cooking and your madeleines will end up sticking together.
  8. Bake in the oven for about 8 to 10mins until the bumps rise.
  9. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5mins before removing them from the pan and repeating the process with the remaining batter.
Served with your favourite cup of coffee/tea and tuck into your favourite book. Ahh.. paradise :)


Just the way I like it

14 comments:

K and S said...

do you butter and flour your tins? you make this sound really easy. :)

Mel said...

How absolutely beautiful and dainty those madeleines are! I have a tray, I just don't have a recipe yet, and yours looks like the perfect one to start with..
- Mel

Cass said...

I loved that book - hope you're enjoying it.

(The madelines look delicious too :))

Truffle said...

How delightful and what a lovely photo!

ilingc said...

Kat: I butter my tins. I didn't have to use that much butter as my madeleine tray is non-stick.

Mel: Hi Mel. It's pretty simple. The only hard bit is the baking. I only have one madeleine tray so I kinda had to bake them, wait for them to cool, remove and do a second or third round.

Cass: Hi Cass. I love that book too! It's one of my favourite books. It's my go to book when I want to make something special. The madeleines were very very addictive. They were gone in less than 4 days. :D

Truffle: Thanks Truffle. :)

Chef JP said...

Madeleine's are one of the original soul foods! My Gran'ma used to make roasted apple madeleines during the fall. chefjp

Nora B. said...

That looks and sounds wonderful. And knowing that you've tested other recipes makes me feel confident to try this one. Thanks! Now all I need to get is madeleine moulds...

Anh said...

I can't stop looking at these photos and thinking the madeleines are so perfect! I am so glad to discover your beautiful blog.. Even happier to know that you are from melbourne, too.

Jerry said...

I have a silicone madeleine mold, but I have yet to actually make madeleines. They look scrumptious. Now if only I can fit it in between the pie, and the napoleon.

ilingc said...

chef jp: Roasted apple madeleines sounds awesome! My brains churning trying to think of how one would make some.

nora b.: It's deliciously moorish. I hope you like them as much as I do!

anh: Thanks anh. Nice to meet you too :)

jerry: Hi Jerry. Believe in the wonders of a spare stomach! I do! Thats how I fit in 6 - 8 in one go!

Anonymous said...

Horrible little things aren't they! I can never stop at one either!

Helene said...

I love that recipe too. Brown butter makes the world go round!

ilingc said...

Y: They are moreish aren't they? It's soo hard to resist just another piece. I always end up eating 1 piece to much and will be sick in the stomach for the rest of the day. :D

tartlette: This is probably the best recipe around! According to me anyway. I've tried a Bill Granger recipe which is way quicker and isn't too bad but just seems a tad too dry to me. But then again my partner prefers it that way because it reminds him of one of the Malaysian cakes that we both grew up eating.

Anonymous said...

My name is Madeleine so these are a favorite of mine (though they would be even if we didn't share a name)! My favorite version are plain lemon madeleines with chocolate chips. MMMMMMmmmmmmMMMMM....