Recipe: Madeleines
I’ve been wanting to make madeleines for the longest time, and have had the perfect recipe since my future sister in law bought me the Bouchon Bakery cookbook last Christmas. However, specialist pans for these kinds of things are always pricey and never always worth it if you don’t use them often, so I’ve just been waiting to ask for one as a gift on a special occasion. Cut to last week, when I was homeware shopping with my sister and I saw a madeleine pan on special offer for less than £2 – there was no way I was leaving that deal behind! So, I decided to bake some of these sweet little cakey treats and share the recipe with you today. Perfection.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup 3 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup 1 tablespoon eggs
- ¼ cup 1 ¼ teaspoons granulated sugar
- 2.3 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus additional for the pan
- 2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
- 1 ¼ teaspoons clover honey (I used regular clear honey, and it seemed to work just as well)
Place the flour in a medium bowl and sift in the baking powder. Add the salt and whisk together. Combine the eggs and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and mix on medium-high speed for about 1 minute, warming the bowl gently as needed to dissolve the sugar (a blow torch is the best way to do this, but be careful!). Increase the speed to high and whip for about 4 minutes, until the color lightens and the batter doubles in volume.
Meanwhile, heat the butter, brown sugar and honey in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, whisking, to dissolve the sugar, for about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.
Remove the bowl from the mixer stand and fold in half the dry ingredients, then fold in the remaining dry ingredients until just combined. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to incorporate any dry ingredients that may have settled there. Pour the warm butter mixture over the batter and fold until the mixture is incorporated and the batter is smooth. Place the batter in a covered container and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C (convection or standard). Brush the madeleine pan with butter. Refrigerate or freeze the pan to harden the butter. Transfer the batter to the pastry bag, or use a spoon. Pipe or spoon the batter into the molds (20 grams/1 generous tablespoon each). Tap the bottom of the pan against the work surface to smooth the top of the batter.
Bake for 7 to 8 minutes in a convection oven, 8 to 9 minutes in a standard oven, until the tops are lightly browned and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. (The bottoms of the madeleines will brown more quickly than the tops, so keep the tops on the lighter side.) Immediately unmold the madeleines and cool on a cooling rack. The madeleines are best the day they are baked, but they can be stored in a covered container for up to 1 day.
