Although traditionally baked in a specialist madeleine tin with
shell-shaped indentations, you can also bake them in muffin tins. Madeleine
tins are widely available and relatively inexpensive to buy, so are worth
getting so that you can enjoy these little cakes in their full glory.
Usually simply flavoured with just a hint of lemon or vanilla, the basic
recipe is easily adapted to include other ingredients such a spices, nuts,
dried fruit etc. Here I have added chocolate chips to the basic batter but feel
free to leave these out and experiment using different ingredients.
I love the buttery taste of madeleines and in particular like to brown
the butter to the beurre noisette stage as this gives the finished cakes taste
a deeper, more buttery flavour. If you are worried that you might burn the
butter when browning it, you can use just plain melted butter instead; the
madeleines will still taste wonderful!
It is really important to prepare your tin properly by brushing each
indentation with some melted butter before lightly dusting with some flour,
shaking out any excess. There is nothing more frustrating than not being able
to remove the cakes once baked! If you have prepared your tin correctly, you
should be able to remove the madeleines all in one go by giving the tin a sharp
tap. Secondly, make sure to allow the batter to rest in the fridge for at least
two hours (or ideally overnight) before baking. This hardens up the melted
butter and creates a stiffer batter which for some reason seems to produce a
lighter result. I don’t know why this works, but it just does!
This recipe produces 24 large or 36 small madeleines, so you may need to
cook the mixture in batches if you don’t own a number of tins. (Note: the
batter will keep for a couple of days in the fridge).
Ingredients:
To prepare the madeleine tins/moulds:
A little melted butter
2tblsp plain flour
Madeleines:
120g butter
3 large eggs at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
130g caster sugar
175g plain flour
1tsp baking powder
75g chocolate chips (milk or dark chocolate)
Method:
To prepare:
1. Brush the madeleine moulds with melted butter and then dust with flour,
tapping out any excess. Place in the fridge while you make the cake batter.
Madeleines:
2. Place the butter in a small saucepan over a moderate heat. Allow the
butter to melt and start bubbling but make sure to keep a close eye on it as it
can burn very quickly. The butter will start to turn a light golden brown and
will begin to darken. Remove immediately it has turned a rich golden brown
colour and has a ‘nutty’ aroma. Pour into a small bowl and allow to cool
slightly.
3. Place the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl and using a
hand-held electric mixer beat together until light and fluffy and doubled in
volume. Sift the flour and baking powder together and fold into the egg
mixture.
4. Pour in the butter in a steady stream and fold in gently. Finally add the
chocolate chips and also fold in. Cover the bowl and place in the fridge for at
least two hours, but overnight is preferable.
To bake the madeleines:
5. Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan Oven 180C/Gas Mark 6. Three quarters fill
each madeleine ‘hole’ in the tin with the chilled cake batter. Bake for 10-12
minutes until the madeleines are well risen and golden brown.
6. Allow to cool in the tin for five minutes before tapping out onto a wire
rack to finish cooling completely. These are lovely eaten warm, but are also
delicious cooled.
Makes 24 madeleines (or 36 mini madeleines).
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