One of the great pleasures in life is sitting relaxing with a nice cup of tea or coffee and a piece of cake.
One perfect little cake for the occasion is the humble madeleine. These buttery, light French sponge cakes are so light and smalll, you won’t feel bad when you have just one more, which you will!
I know historically they have something to do with Marcel Proust, but not having read a word of his work, I can skip the history lesson and get straight down to the madeleine making.
The only specialist equipment you need is a madeleine baking tray.
The tray will have holes in the shape of scallop shells which give the madeleines their traditional look and a slightly crispy edge and fluffy interior. They are widely available in cook shops, department stores and online.
They aren’t difficult to make but there are a few key things to do to produce the perfect madeleine.
The first and most important thing is to brush the moulds with melted butter, even if they are non-stick. Then dust with flour. Sounds a bit of a faff but believe me, it’s worth it.
And the other thing is to rest the batter after mixing, the longer the better, keeping everything nice and cold.
I kept my batter covered in the fridge for about 4 hours before spooning into my tins, which I also kept cold in the fridge.
This helps produce the characteristic little ‘bump’ that rises on the cakes during baking and is what madeleines are known for.
This means you can prepare everything long before you need to and just pop them in the oven just before any friends arrive or when you fancy them.
You can flavour these cakes as you like, the classic madeleine being just lemon, but you can add orange, vanilla, rose, even chocolate.
I decided to give mine a bit more interest by adding toasted coconut, almond extract and lemon zest. I liked the little bit of bite the coconut gave to contrast the softness of the sponge.
I know you can buy these in the shops, but I urge you to give them a go. Not just for the pleasure and satisfaction of making them, but fresh out the oven they will be miles better to eat.
Time to put the kettle on…….
INGREDIENTS makes 20
40g unsweetened desiccated coconut, toasted
85g unsalted butter
80g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
Zest of 1 lemon
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
100g caster sugar
1 tsp each of almond extract & vanilla extract
METHOD
Toast the coconut in a 180℃/160℃ fan oven for about 5 minuses until nicely golden brown and cool.
When cool, mix with the sifted plain flour, baking powder and salt and leave to one side.
Melt the butter in a small pan or in the microwave and leave to one side to cool.
Whisk the lemon zest, eggs, sugar and extracts together until thick and pale. All the sugar should be incorporated and dissolved. This should take about 5 minutes.
With a spatula, fold in the dry ingredients and pour in the cooled melted butter and gently mix until combined. It should resemble a thick batter.
At this stage you can cover with clingfilm - press the clingfilm on top of the batter to prevent a skin forming - and refrigerate for about 4 hours, or even overnight if you want.
You can use the batter after an hour in the fridge to rest, but the longer you chill it the better.
During this time, prepare your Madeleine tin(s) by brushing with more melted butter and dusting with flour, shaking off the excess. Take your madeleine batter out of the fridge and place a tablespoon in each mould. I use a small ice cream scoop a) because it’s easier and b) because it means each dollop of batter is the same size.
There is also no need to level out the batter, in fact it is better not to. It will find its own way into the moulds with the heat of the oven.
You can cover with clingfilm and refrigerate again for an hour or so, but if you can’t wait any longer, pre-heat the oven to 180℃/160℃ fan and put in a baking tray to heat up.
Slide the madeleine tray onto the hot baking tray and bake for 9-10 minutes until risen and golden, and going slightly darker at the edges.
Allow to cool in the tin for a minute or so, then carefully ease the madeleines out of their moulds onto a cooling rack.
They are best eaten straight away, slightly warm, but will keep (some hope) in an airtight container for a day or so. Although they will lose their crispy edges if you store them overnight.