Rather like Jaffa cakes, experts have long discussed whether madeleines are a cake or a biscuit. Their sponge texture is quite soft and light but slightly dense, hence the debate. Baked using basic ingredients : sugar, eggs, butter, flour with baking powder, they can be flavoured with vanilla extract or lemon zest. Ground almonds may be substituted for some of the flour but my friend, Odile, says this is ‘pas comme il faut’ so who am to question the French on this? The madeleine tin is an essential piece of equipment since the moulds are in the shape of shells. The moulds give the madeleines their special shape and pattern with lines visible on each madeleine when baked.
How do you bake them?
Madeleines are very easy to bake – in fact you can’t go wrong. There is a multitude of recipes but they have similar instructions. Most suggest using melted butter but others follow a sort of creaming method where you soften the butter and add the rest of the ingredients. Some recipes don’t use milk. I’ve used a French family recipe here. This recipe makes 24 approximately (2 tins), depending on the size of the tin.
What you need
100g butter melted
100g caster sugar
2 eggs (beaten)
50g milk
Vanilla extract or
Zest of 1 lemon
100g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
How to bake
Preheat
the oven to 220C (200C Fan) or Gas Make 7. Beat the eggs and add the sugar,
vanilla extract (or lemon zest) and some of the milk. Beat with a (electric)
whisk over a bain-marie (in a bowl over a pan of warm water). Remove from the
heat and continue to whisk. Add the rest of the milk and then stir in the flour
and baking powder. Brush the madeleine tin with oil or a small amount of melted
butter. Place spoonsful of the mixture
into the moulds – just fill half each individual mould. Bake for 10-12 minutes
until they are well risen and firm. Leave to cool for 5 minutes then remove
from the tin with a palette knife and put on a cooling rack.
To decorate
Icing sugar
or
White or dark chocolate
Apricot jam
For an
easy decoration, sieve icing sugar across the madeleines or dip them in melted chocolate like ‘churros’. For a more
elaborate version, brush the madeleines with
apricot jam, heated ion a pan with 1 tbsp hot water, then trickle melted
chocolate over the madeleines and leave until set.
These
little cakes, forever etched in my memory from studying Proust at university, have their place as the most beguiling
of small cakes. I love baking these with my grandchildren for goûter, to keep
my fond memories of ‘madeleines’ alive.
