My daughter needed to prepare a film showing her making and explaining the steps of a French recipe - En Français, of course! "May I please bake Madeleines?", she asked me. "Yes!" I said. "Good choice because they are easy and bake quickly."
Afterward we split one, the rest she decided to package up as little gifts for each of her teachers. I was wishing we had more to enjoy for a snack. It was too late in the evening to start a new batch and I thought, "why don't I make these more often?" Well I will from now on. Madeleines are easy, delicious, and special. Madeleines are quite pretty to look at but also are the perfect treat- perfect size, perfect taste, perfect texture.
Note: I like these glazed or unglazed ---either way tastes great. According to the original recipe, the glazed madeleines are to be left uncovered & not tightly-wrapped. Well, we packaged them up so I hope the teachers still enjoyed their madeleines!
Lemon-Glazed Madeleines
adapted from David Lebovitz (One of my favorite blogs!)
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
rounded 1/8 teaspoon salt
1
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
zest of two lemons
9 Tablespoons unsalted butter,
melted and cooled to room temperature, plus 2 additional Tablespoons melted butter for
preparing the molds
3/4 cup (150g) powdered sugar
1 ½ Tablespoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice
1 ½ Tablespoons water
Brush the indentations of a madeleine mold with melted
butter. Dust with flour, tap off any excess, and place in the freezer.
In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, whip the eggs,
granulated sugar, and salt for 5 minutes until frothy and thickened. Place the flour and baking powder into a
sifter or mesh strainer and use a spatula to fold in the flour as you sift it
over the batter.
Add the lemon zest to the cooled butter, then add the
butter into the batter, a few spoonfuls at a time, while simultaneously folding
to incorporate the butter. Fold just until all the butter is incorporated.
Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
(Batter can be chilled for up to 12 hours.)
To bake the madeleines, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Using a teaspoon, put a spoonful of batter in the center of each indentation and don’t worry if you’re not exact. Do not spread
it.
Bake for 8-9 minutes or until the cakes just feel set.
While the cakes are baking, make a glaze in a small mixing bowl by stirring
together the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and water until smooth.
Remove from the oven and tilt the madeleines out onto a
cooling rack. The moment they’re cool enough to handle (they cool quickly - couple of minutes), dip each cake in the
glaze on the scalloped side of the madeleine. After dipping, rest each one back on the cooking
rack, scalloped side up, until the cakes are cool and the glaze has firmed up.
