Today we baked another French classic : the Madeleine. This famous delicacy is usually enjoyed for afternoon tea. Madeleines are very small sponge cakes, traditionally flavoured with lemon, and have a distinctive shell-like shape, much easier to do than commonly thought.
The legend of this cake is traced back to the 18th century. Stanisław Leszczyński, Duke of Lorraine, was having a large dinner party in his Château de Commercy, in 1755. In the kitchen, an argument occurred between the steward and the cook, leading to the latter quitting and taking all the freshly baked deserts with him. The dinner seemed compromised until a young maid, Madeleine Paulmier, offered to cook a cake recipe she inherited from her grandmother. The warm welcome that this uniquely shaped cake received, baked in scallops shells back then, inspired Stanislaw to name the cake after the young heroine who saved his dinner. To this day, Commercy is still regarded as the home of the madeleines.
Madeleines were also made famous by the French author, Marcel Proust, in his novel "In Search of Lost Time". He uses madeleines to demonstrate the contrast of involuntary memory and voluntary memory (retrieved by putting conscious effort into remembering events, and therefore inevitably partial). Now known as the "episode of the madeleine", the cake, when dipped in a cup of tea, suddenly evokes not only a mere memory, but the full essence and feeling of a childhood event. The "madeleine de Proust" became a popular metaphor commonly used in French to describe something that triggers an involuntary memory.
But enough with history, to make this delicacy, you will need a madeleine cake mold, now widely found in specialized kitchen equipment stores and online. The cooking time will vary depending on your oven, and since it only needs between 8 and 10 minutes of cooking I would advise you to stay around to check on it regularly. A perfectly baked madeleine should be light golden-brown, with a little bump on the top side, and the distinctive shell-shape on the other side. The recipe is very versatile and you can replace the lemon by vanilla, or add some chocolate chips. We'll be presenting some other variations, including savory ones in the future ;-)
If you have kids around, make this recipe with them ! It doesn't need anything sharp, it's easy as pie, and you will create some true "madeleine de Proust" moments for them.
 20 minutes + 1h resting time |
 8-10 minutes + until cold |
 20 madeleines |
Ingredients
1 organic lemon (washed)
2 eggs
100 grams of sugar
100 grams of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
100 grams of melted butter
1/2 teaspoon of salt
Bakeware :
Madeleines mold
Zest your lemon
>> Wash the skin of your lemon carefully to remove any trace of chemicals.
>> Grate the skin of the lemon in to a large mixing bowl.
Get started on the dough
>> Add the 2 eggs and the sugar and mix with a whisk until frothy.
>> Melt the butter in the microwave for 30 seconds, and reserve on the side to leave cool slightly.
>> Pass the flour and baking powder through a sieve, little by little, and mix with a spatula making sure it's homogeneous.
>> Add the butter and the salt, and mix until fully integrated.
>> Cover with a clean cloth and leave to rest for an hour at room temperature.
>> Grate the skin of the lemon in to a large mixing bowl.
Get started on the dough
>> Add the 2 eggs and the sugar and mix with a whisk until frothy.
>> Melt the butter in the microwave for 30 seconds, and reserve on the side to leave cool slightly.
>> Pass the flour and baking powder through a sieve, little by little, and mix with a spatula making sure it's homogeneous.
>> Add the butter and the salt, and mix until fully integrated.
>> Cover with a clean cloth and leave to rest for an hour at room temperature.
Prepare the madeleines mold
>> Preheat your oven to 200°C.
>> If you're using a metallic mold, or even a silicon one, we would advise you to butter them generously to avoid the madeleines from sticking. Silicon molds have the reputation to only need greasing the first time you use them, but better safe than sorry.
>> Your madeleine mix should now have rested an hour and have a mousse-like texture. Break it down with a spoon to it's liquid state.
>> Place the equivalent of a tablespoon into each of your mold.
>> If you're using a metallic mold, or even a silicon one, we would advise you to butter them generously to avoid the madeleines from sticking. Silicon molds have the reputation to only need greasing the first time you use them, but better safe than sorry.
>> Your madeleine mix should now have rested an hour and have a mousse-like texture. Break it down with a spoon to it's liquid state.
>> Place the equivalent of a tablespoon into each of your mold.
Cooking time !
>> Place your madeleines in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until lightly golden. This is going to cook very quickly and can also overcook very fast, so stick around to make sure it doesn't happen.
>> Once cooked, take the madeleines off the mold while still warm and place them on a tray to let them cool.
>> Enjoy them cold, or at least at room temperature if you're not patient enough =)
>> Once cooked, take the madeleines off the mold while still warm and place them on a tray to let them cool.
>> Enjoy them cold, or at least at room temperature if you're not patient enough =)
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