Monday, April 15, 2013

Madeleines



Prior to making these this past weekend, I have eaten Madeleines only once.  There is a cute, little, serious restaurant in town here that bakes them up to order in the mornings.  A year ago, I went there with the sole purpose of ordering those Madeleines.  I remember them being deliciously fresh baked but underwhelming treats.    The same goes for this home-baked version.  They worked, they were fresh, but I could take them or leave them.

This was my second go at a genoise batter.  My first was a disaster (French Strawberry Cake) so I was a bit intimidated to try it again.  But I DO have my new mixer and I was certain to cool my melted butter down this time.  It all worked.  The basic genoise pattern goes like this.

Sift the dry, sifted stuff (flour, salt, some sugar).


Whip the eggs and yolks with the sugar until they are tripled in volume.



Gently fold in the dry ingredients in 3 sessions.



Then incorporate melted butter by first mellowing it with some of the already-mixed batter before fully incorporating it.



Then it is ready.



For this recipe it was ready to be filled into the Madeleine plaques and chilled overnight.  Now, according to the recipe book, this was supposed to be baked right away, but listening to some of our expert Madeleine bakers in the group, chilling the batter is the only way to get the characteristic puffed shell shape, so I chilled it.  I also prepped my Madeleine plaque with two coats of melted butter, instead of butter and flour for the same reason.   Like I said, it all worked.  I had beautiful, puffed Madeleines that released easily from their pan.


I truly wished I liked them more.  They would be a terrific tea party cake (when do I ever have tea parties?).  Thank goodness I borrowed the Madeleine plaque from a friend, because I am not sure when I would use it next.

For the full recipe and other Baking with Julia bloggers' experiences, see Katie and Amy of Counter Dog and Tuesdays with Dorie respectively.


And Rhiannon:

13 comments:

  1. They look beautiful! But I'm with you on taking or leaving them. Nothing to write home about for sure.

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  2. Perfectly done! Yeah, I've never been a huge madeleine fan...but these weren't bad.

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  3. Your madeleines look great! I liked them with tea but they became stale by the evening. I wonder if they would be as popular if Proust didn't write about them.

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  4. Beautiful! I have had better madeleines, though.

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  5. They look beautiful! Sorry they weren’t a hit! This recipe was a bit drier than others I have made. I happen to love Madeleines…Chocolate madeleines are a favorite. I posted one on my blog from Epicurious.

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  6. I'm with you on this one. Meh.

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  7. Those could not look any more perfect- sorry they lacked a bit in taste.

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  8. These look perfect.

    Don't let these scare you off Madeleines for good - there are waaayyyy better recipes out there!

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  9. Yours look perfect!! I didn't chill the batter and they came out just fine, but a little dense for my liking. I liked Dorie's recipe better. Maybe you should try hers.

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  10. Your madeleines look good, thanks for sharing! Blessings, Catherine www.praycookblog.com

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  11. They turned out beautifully. Sorry they weren't your favourite.

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  12. Your madeleines look great! It seems like about half the people refrigerated them and half baked them right away. Everyone's seemed to have turned out fine. I didn't think a lot of this recipe either, although I'll try it again as ladyfingers.

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