Madeline & Me
So, there is a special someone that I need to impress with bakery/cookery prowess tomorrow. No, not the boyfriend as I’m not seeing him till majority of my assignments have been handed in as I don’t have the time for a social life right now. Sigh.
At any rate, I got home at 7:30pm, soggy from the rain and more than a little frostbitten from the bone-chilling winds. The day at work was killer, as though I’m now only working 2 days a week, working on the production team for a publishing company means that you are always busy.
Always.
Despite all this, I had a plan in mind. A plan to bake some scrumptious tidbits that were easy and not too time-consuming, which would also fill the house with warm, comforting smells. The only problem was that I couldn’t decide WHICH scrumptious tidbits would be made! Muffins? Cookies? Biscotti? Mini cakes?
Then the ghost of Marcel Proust came flying out of the sky and hit me on the head with a madeline tray. No, really. Hey, it’s my imagination, I can imagine whatever I please! If my sleep-deprived mind wants to tell me that Proust dropped the madeline tray on my head, then I have every right to believe it.
A-ha-ha, yeaaaaaaaaah.
This recipe is based on one by Aussie chef Shannon Bennett, arguably one of Australia’s most skilled chefs in the art of French cuisine.
Ingredients
100g unsalted butter, at room temperature
125g caster sugar
3 large-ish eggs
1 cup plain flour
1 heaped tsp baking powder
zest & juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp vanilla essence
Extra butter and flour for brushing and dusting madeline tins
1. Cream the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl till pale. Add the eggs and beat till combined. Don’t worry if the mixture curdles, it has absolutely no effect on how this recipe turns out.
2. Sift the flour and baking powder into the wet mixture, then beat at a low speed till mixture is well combined. Mix in the lemon zest, juice and vanilla. Place mixture in the refrigerator till it is chilled.
3. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C, and brush the madeline tins with butter and dust with flour.
4. Remover batter from the fridge and drop teaspoonfuls into each mould - don’t worry about smoothing it out or making sure it covers all the indents, as it bakes it will rise and fill out on it’s own.
5. Place in the oven and bake for 5-10 minutes, till the tops (flat sides facing up) are golden and the edges have slightly browned. Remove from the oven, tap them out of their moulds and place them on a rack to cool.
6. Serve dusted with icing sugar and a good coffee (or tea, in my case!)
Depending on the size of your teaspoon and the size of your moulds, this will make roughly 25 - 30 little madelines. If you prefer yours softer and without the crunchy, caramelized edge then take them out of the oven a little earlier than what I’ve put (probably around the 5 minute mark rather than 10).
Also, this is a really basic batter - if you want to make a variety of flavours, then go for it! You can add instant coffee powder dissolved in hot water, cocoa powder or melted chocolate, honey, concentrated orange juice, or even rosewater (as Nigella did for her ‘Rosewater madelines’ in “How to be a domestic goddess”).
I had no lemons in the house so I added 1/2 cup pulpy orange juice instead, and since that made the batter very watery, I also added 1/2 cup self-raising flour to bring it back to the right consistancy. They turned out fine, but the orange flavour is disappointingly weak. Next time I’ll try it with orange syrup or concentrated orange juice and see how I go.
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Comments
I think the batter should work quite well, but they wouldn’t be madelines anymore 
In the age of silicone cookware, you should be able to get a madeline tray mould for a fairly decent price - I got mine from a kitchen goods store (same place I get all my baking toys) for AUD $15, so around US$10?
If you like the crunchy edges vs. soft interior thing, then I’d suggest that you try financiers - they work really well in a mini muffin pan, and look adorable with one choc chip just sitting on top 
These sound absolutely delish, my dear! I like the picture with the bite missing.. hehehee So uhmm.. where’s a yank like me to find a madeline tray in these parts? Is there any other alternative for it? I don’t know what financiers are either, but I’m picturing something that isn’t as flat and crispy as a madeline? I’m all for the flat and crispedy! 
Hehehe, I liked it too I took the bite to try and show the lightness of the crumb, but my camera was being a belligerent ass so there was no crumb love!
Financiers are either the same thing or almost the same thing as friands - I think they’re different, but that could be the recipes that I have for each *shrug*. I have a very basic recipe which I liven in the same way as the madelines - cocoa, melted chocolate, citrus zest, instant coffee granules…but because I bake these in mini muffin tins, I also adore putting a blueberry/raspberry/wild strawberry on top as they sink into the middle as they cook, and turn into a wonderfully jammy centre!
And I totally didn’t answer your question!!
Madeline stores can usually be found in kitchen goods stores, but if you have no luck there, you may need to find a store that specialises in baking and cake decorating goods. If you’re not too squeamish about online shopping, you could try doing a bit of a hunt?
So I’m sitting here at work, just got back from my lunch break, and decided to see if you had answered my question before I continue my afternoon of TOTALLY goofing off and bugging Ali on yahoo. teeeeeeeee! I am not above the online search and will relish finding the best bargain out there! (I called the local baking supply stores and neither had the pan) BUT.. and this is a HUGE BUT, my friend whom I fall more in love with each and every day.. Uhmm.. WTF is a FRIAND???
PS - thank you for the tips on where to find the pan.. heheheee I heart you.
Ohhhhh, no! Financiers and friands are both little almond cakes…personally, I think that friands are a lot more dense and taste better when refrigerated as it helps keep the denseness of the crumb - when they’re at room temperature they become a bit weirdly fluffy. Financiers are almost sticky and quite firm on the outside, and have a lovely textured crumb on the inside.
Do you have a mini-muffin tin? Yes yes?
I have to leave for work now, but I’ll make a batch of these things tonight and post photos and recipe
heheee yes, I have a mini muffin pan and they sound delicious - can’t wait to see what they look like!
Had I known how easy it is to get you to bake for me, I would have put requests in long ago! hahahaa!
LOL!
You know, if the aussie postal service wasn’t such a wreck, and the mail-time between the US and here weren’t so bad, i’d be declaring the need for an SOS package!
About to nick off to bed (long story, pestered all day by stupid clients) but I’ll update tomorrow morning before I disappear for the weekend (am declaring a non-work day to spend friday night at his place! I get to make dinner, yesssss!)
aww that’s excellent! I hope you have a super weekend! And I’ll want details when you get home! heheeee
Thanks Ellie! I think the recipe I tried over the weekend is quite similar, I used orange juice instead, it is here: http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/recipes.recipeListing/filter/dianas/recipeID/1491/Recipe.cfm, I want to try with lemon juice now!!! Have a great weekend!
Hi Cris, I think that madeline recipes tend to be pretty similar across the board, little tweaks here and there according to taste and flavour! Lemon is a nice one (but then again, I’m a sucker for citrus!)
I’ve always wanted to make madelines. I’m just too lazy and cheap to buy the pan. Do you think they would work in a mini muffin pan?