aren’t those beautiful humps? I feel like such a proud mama – I watched these grow while standing by the door of my oven and couldn’t get over myself when that tiny bit of a hump broke through the smooth surface of batter.
if you don’t know what I mean, please go cry yourself into a corner then perhaps I should explain that madeleines (depending on which school of thought you belong too) are deemed to be successful when they have a little hump on their undersides – this is caused by the temperature difference between cold batter and hot oven. I’ve read somewhere that french people actually prefer a flatter madeleine, and that the hump is an american preference – but I belong to neither of those cultures and so getting a hump (if the recipe says it will) just proves to me that I’m doing something right!
these are a recipe I adapted from la tartine gourmande, and I also rested the (otherwise easy) batter in the fridge overnight – it feels to me like flavours meld better after resting. be sure to butter your molds very well, and serve these with a sprinkle of powdered sugar over the top! the white gilds the indents of the madeleines very prettily. the biggest change I did was to brown the butter before baking – this gives it a very subtly nutty flavour, which goes brilliantly with the orange zest and honey – and my mum absolutely loved this.
orange and honey madeleines (adapted from la tartine gourmande)
3 eggs, room temperature
148g all purpose flour + barely 0.5 tsp salt
113g unsalted butter
127g sugar
zest of 1 orange
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp honey
- brown the butter in a non-stick pan until it is fragrant, then let it cool. sift the flour with the baking powder and salt, set aside.
- beat the eggs, then add the sugar, honey and zest and continue beating until white and light – that is, highly fluffy and very pale in colour.
- sift in the flour, and fold in. fold in the butter gently. now cover the batter with clingwrap directly on the surface, and refrigerate for at least two hours.
- about half an hour before you want to bake the madeleines, preheat your oven to 215C. grease your madeleine pans thoroughly with some butter on a brush.
- fill the molds about three-quarter full with the batter, and place in the oven. bake at 215C for 6 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 175C and bake for another 4-5 minutes until golden.
- remove the madeleines from the moulds immediately and let cool completely on a rack.
Oh, i always thought Madelines are so exquisite and sophisticated! And yours look so pretty. Yum!
thank you! the recipe turned out very well I think :D