French Madeleines

A French madeleine is a small, shell-shaped sponge cake with a distinctive hump on one side and a ridged surface on the other. Madeleines are traditionally baked in a special tray with shell-shaped molds.

The classic recipe consists of basic ingredients such as flour, sugar, butter, eggs, and lemon zest or vanilla for flavor. The batter is often chilled before baking to help create the iconic hump.

Madeleines are a beloved treat in France and are famously associated with Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, where the taste of a madeleine dipped in tea evokes a flood of childhood memories.

Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.(Marcel Proust).

The texture is light, tender, and slightly buttery, making them perfect for enjoying with tea or coffee.

Serves 18 Madeleines

Ingredients:

• 180g of plain flour
• 140g of caster sugar
• 40ml de lait
• A pinch of salt
• 3 eggs or 150g of eggs
• 170g of melted butter
• 5g of baking powder
• Zest of 2 lemons

Procedure:

• In a sauce pan melt the butter on a low heat until melted but not burned.
• Remove from the heat and allow to cool on the side.
• In a large bowl whisk together the sugar, the milk and the eggs.
• Add the flour and the baking powder together and continue to whisk
• Add the salt.
• Add the zest of 2 small lemons.
• Finely Pour the melted butter on the top.
• Whisk very well.
• Cover and store the mixture into the refrigerator overnight.
• The following morning, grease and flour Madeleines pan (much better if you have a metallic one than a silicon pan).
• Preheat your oven at 200C degrees.
• Remove the mixture from the refrigerator and fill the pan with one tablespoon of your batter.
• Bake for 10 minutes at 200C degrees or until you see a dome, then reduced the heat to 170C degrees for another 10 minutes, when the top of the Madeleines is light gold remove it and allow to cool for 15 minutes (depending of your oven)!

PS: To obtain a nice dome is the thermal shock between the heat of the oven (200C degrees and the cold batter)!

Bonne dégustation!