Madeleines! (With Orange)

Well, this has been a long 2 months. I have tested many recipes of Madeleine’s and various pans. I even tested buttering the pan versus cooking spray. It has been a fun 2 months. I gained a few pounds, but hey all in the name of research. Now that I have tested and tasted various kinds of Madeleine’s I am now ready to make and eat them for fun!

How did I get on this Madeleine kick? I love researching recipes, creating new recipes and testing recipes. I get a high off of taking a recipe and playing with it till I have created a flavor that is just so inviting I want to make over and over again.

One Sunday morning after my 6 mile walk with my friend Jenn I was looking through my recipes from school and came across the recipe for Madeleine’s and well I had to try it. I remember only mildly liking the recipe from school, so I decided to tackle this cakey cookie. What started as a Sunday “let’s make Madeleine’s” ended up being a twice a week testing fest.

Well, after much research, reading many blogs, cookbooks and posts from various bakers I created a recipe that I love! The original recipe is adapted from a book published in England called Step by Step baking. I then incorporated some of the American flair and voila they came out perfect!!

So, here is the formula for some fantastic tasting Madeleine’s.

Formula

3 eggs

1 egg yolk

zest from either an Orange or Lemon (I tried both and I prefer orange, but that is because I am not a huge Lemon fan.)

5 ¼ ounces of sugar

5 1/8 ounce of AP flour (I tested Cake flour and you can definitely use cake flour. )

1 tsp baking powder (I tried the warming method from culinary school and that works, but I find using baking powder gives the Madeleine more of an arch and much easier than the warming method.)

4 ounces of melted butter

1 tsp of vanilla or almond extract (I used both and loved them both equally. I also did a ½ and ½ and the people at work really liked the flavor. The hint of both gave the cookies a nice flavor.)

1/8 tsp of salt (some recipes do not call for salt, but I tried it with and without salt and I felt salt brought out the flavor more.)

Directions

Sift the flour, salt and baking powder together and put aside. (I tried using un-sifted flour and unfortunately, that did not work well. It made the cookie dense.)
In a large bowl whisk the eggs, egg yolk, zest and sugar till very pale. (I did this by hand, but you can easily use a kitchen aid).
Using a spatula, fold in the flour / baking powder mixture.
Fold in the melted butter. (The batter will look very running at first, but after all the butter is incorporated it will look more like a cake batter. )
Put the batter in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes. (You can keep the batter in the fridge overnight. I tried baking them right away and at various fridge times and the longer in the fridge the better. However, I found the minimum time to be 30 minutes. )
While the batter is in the fridge, preheat oven to 375.
Butter and flour lightly your pan. (I tried using cooking spray and I did not like the way the Madeleine’s came out. They did not come out even.)
I used a “regular” size metal pan. I tried the petite non-stick pans and they came out fine, but they did not have even lift. I would suggest a metal pan and butter and lightly flour the pan for best results.
Using the number 40 ice cream scoop (or a tablespoon), spoon 1 tablespoon of batter into each mold.
Cook for 10 minutes.
Quickly tap out the Madeleine onto a wire rack and let cool.
Sprinkle with confection sugar (or I have with some preserves).

DELICIOUS!!!!

(I tried both. I prefer metal.)