marmalade-glazed orange madeleines

this is the third orange madeleine recipe here on andmorefood – and the best one. now my go-to recipe, it creates humps for me every single time, and stands up to any sort of citrus – and is always highly requested at home. not too sweet, tender, with a deeply-caramelized edge, I can’t say enough good things about it.

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I’ve now made these a couple of times – this one you see here is an orange-zest-enriched batter, topped with sesame seeds, baked to a golden brown and dark edges, and glazed with orange marmalade (a favour from a friend’s wedding – thank you carmen!). delicieux.

and, it’s (basically) one-bowl! too good.

orange madeleines glazed with marmalade (adapted from technicolor kitchen)

10g brown sugar
75g white sugar
2 eggs
45g unsalted butter, melted
drizzle of honey/maple syrup (easily omittable, but I’ve always had a bit of either on hand)
56g flour
0.5 tsp baking powder
zest of 1 orange
sesame seeds for sprinkling, and orange marmalade as a glaze (both optional, but highly recommended).

1. grease your madeleine pans liberally (this makes 12 regular madeleines). I used to be lazy and just wiped it over with a slick of the butter wrapper (usually good enough for cakes), but I’ve learnt the hard way that there’s no substitute for melting some butter and going at the grooves with a brush.
2. crack your eggs into a mixing bowl, and measure the sugars directly into the same bowl. grate the zest into the this mix directly. whisk until pale and fluffy – I use a handheld electric whisk. fold in your flour and baking powder in until just combined – don’t overwork the mixture.
3. fold in the butter and maple syrup. place the entire bowl into the fridge until cold. I usually place it into the freezer, checking ever so often – but the refrigerator is good if you have time. (I don’t bother using any cling wrap as it doesn’t seem to make a difference, but sometimes I cover the bowl with a large plate). place your greased pans into the fridge as well. 
4. just before you’re ready to bake – preheat your oven to 200C. ladle out the batter into the moulds – I have found that the best hump is gotten when you fill it to nearly 2mm of the edge. when your pan is filled, return it to the fridge to chill further (I need to reuse my pans as I have a small oven – so ten minutes in the freezer works too, which is just about as long as it takes to bake one batch).
   the humps are caused by (as explained by my experiments) having enough batter in the pan, and as great a temperature difference between your oven and pan as possible.
5. if you’re topping your madeleines, you can do it here – sprinkle a pinch of seeds over each.
6. now place your pan into the oven quickly – so the oven temperature doesn’t drop excessively – and bake until golden brown and a tester comes out clean. this takes about 12-14 minutes for me – I start checking only when the madeleines are turning golden; try not to open the oven door too early or too often.
   
7. cool the madeleines in the pans for about a scant five minutes – or until they are cool enough for you to handle, before cooling them completely on a wire rack, sans-pan. once cooled, microwave some marmalade until flowing and liquid, then use a brush to glaze the non-groove side of the madeleines.

these tea-time treats were made with the beautiful oranges that the kind folks at florida’s natural singapore sent my way – together with a few cartons of their great juices – made my mum very happy (and earned me some brownie points).

we’ve long been a fan of their juices – always full of flavour and reliably good – not too sweet or with that tannic aftertaste so sadly common. my favourite is the ruby-red grapefruit, but there’s an orange-pineapple mix that I’m impatient to open. (my sister has taken monopoly of the apple juice bottle, so don’t just go off thinking they only do citruses!)

that cap is too adorable for words. now that we’ve used the zest in these madeleines, save the juice for curd-making. recipe coming up, as well as how to use it (I have éclairs up my sleeve)!