Madeleines

A rested cold batter put into a hot oven, where the shock between the two is the only thing that makes the bump.

Egg. Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains egg, dairy (butter), honey.

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 100 g caster sugar
• 100 g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 100 g butter, melted and cooled
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon honey
• a pinch of salt
• butter and flour for the tin

Method

1. THE BATTER IS RESTED COLD AND THE OVEN IS HOT, AND THE SHOCK BETWEEN THE TWO IS WHAT MAKES THE BUMP. Cold batter hitting a 220C tin sets at the edges while the middle is still liquid, so the only way left for it to expand is straight up through the centre. Room-temperature batter in a moderate oven rises evenly and gives a perfectly pleasant flat little cake with no hump at all. There is no ingredient that produces it -- it is entirely the temperature difference.
2. SO THE BATTER GOES IN THE FRIDGE FOR AT LEAST AN HOUR, and overnight is better. The tin goes in the fridge too if you have room.
3. THE MOULDS ARE FILLED ONLY THREE QUARTERS and the batter is not spread. A spoonful dropped in the middle of each, left as a mound. Spread flat or overfilled, it rises over the edges and the shape is lost.
4. THE TIN IS BUTTERED AND FLOURED EVEN IF IT IS NON-STICK. The ridges are the point of the shape and they are exactly where a madeleine sticks. Melted butter brushed in with a pastry brush, then flour, then the tin tapped out upside down.
5. AND THEY COME OUT OF THE TIN IMMEDIATELY. Left to cool in it, they steam and the shell goes soft.
6. Eggs, sugar and salt whisked together 3 minutes until pale and slightly thickened.
7. Flour and baking powder sifted over and FOLDED in, not beaten.
8. The lemon zest and honey folded through.
9. The melted cooled butter folded in last, in two lots, until just combined.
10. Covered and CHILLED at least 1 hour, or overnight.
11. The tin buttered, floured and tapped out, then chilled.
12. Oven to 220C.
13. A spoonful of cold batter into each mould, three quarters full, left as a mound and not spread.
14. Baked 4 minutes at 220C, then the heat down to 180C for 5 to 6 minutes more, until risen with a clear bump and golden at the edges.
15. Turned out at once onto a rack. Best within the hour, and genuinely not the same the next day.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under France · All recipes