These absolutely quintessentially French delights are buttery and light, the perfect way to impress visitors as they’re easy to make. They look so attractive with their scalloped shape and are easily recognised by the traditional little ‘hump’ in the middle.
They are often cooked as a ‘goûter, the delicious little snack that children have on returning from school to tide them over until diner, which is served several hours later in France and eaten ‘en famille’.
Like the classic baguette they go stale quickly, apparently. In my experience none ever remain long enough to test this theory!
As the batter lasts up to two days in the fridge you can make up a batch and cook a few Madelines at a time. Believe me they are super easy to make, I’m really no baker, but they work for me.
I always use a traditional vintage metal mould as I have found it gives a better result, the trick is to brush it thoroughly with oil into all the ridges so the fresh cakes just pop out easily.
Selection of vintage patisserie moulds available from quitessentiallyfrench.com pop over to the main site for a virtual browse around the brocante.
Here is my favourite recipe for my favourite little French cakes; Madeleines. Enjoy. INGREDIENTS 3 eggs 2/3 cup (130 g) sugar 1 1/2 tsp orange or lemon zest 1 cup (120 g) flour 1 tsp baking powder ¼ tsp salt 6 tbsp of butter, melted A little icing sugar to dust HOW TO: Beat the eggs with the sugar until pale yellow. Add the zest. Whisk together the dry ingredients add to the egg mixture gently, until just combined. Stir in the melted butter. Refrigerate the batter for at least 1 hour or overnight if you wish to prepare ahead. This is really important for getting the “hump” of a Madeleine, the traditional mark of this classic French cake. Preheat oven to 350F (176C). Lightly coat a metal Madeleine pan with oil using a brush to make sure it’s completely coated. Spoon 1 tbsp of batter into the centre of the well and don’t touch it. It will spread out by itself and keep a more uniform shape that way. Bake for 7-8 minutes until slightly golden around the edges and the centres look set, the trademark slight hump should have appeared.
Allow to cool slightly before removing from the tin.
Once cooled completely dust with icing sugar and serve!
Madelines made with Quintessentially French's vintage Madeline tins, picture and original art work by kind permission of @den_studio22 den studio0.webnode.co.uk
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