Perfect Madeleines

I’m fairly clumsy in a sort of 'lack of care about my own personal safety' kind of way. I can be careful when it’s important but I do tend to race around and bash into things if I’m in a rush (and sometimes when I’m not). I talk with my hands so my husband tends to move wine glasses out of my way if I’m in the middle of a story, as I have been known to spill an entire glass of red wine down myself (that episode saw me washing my cream dress in the loo of a restaurant and wearing it damp to finish off my meal). I think that I’ve been feeling more clumsy than usual as my recent reading habits have tending towards classic novels. They tend to contain delicate women who have the time to take seven weeks to get over a cold or who need people to read poetry to them as the book would be too heavy for them to hold. I think I’d be more likely to be some wench who gets in the way of their carriage and whose demeanour causes the delicate ladies to take to their room for a week.

Now many of the cakes on here so far are fairly robust and can take a bit of bashing about, or at least can’t be botched up that badly, but sometimes I do like to make something that requires a more delicate touch and makes me feel like a proper baker. Now macaroons are my go to in these times and while the end product is amazingly beautiful, I’m found covered in sticky meringue and generally have to be prised off furniture. Not something that helps my overall feeling of serene ladylikeness. So I’ve decided to get my Madeleine tin out as I’ve only used it once and I need to perfect the recipe.

The egg acts as a raising agent so please don’t be tempted to add baking powder to the recipe. Also you need a small amount of batter per Madeleine tray as if you put too much in you get a massive bump in the middle of the cake. You’d rather have too little than too much, trust me, as once you turn them over they look great as long as they sit flat. I’ve added some extras to flavour the sponge but they don’t need it. It’s more to mix up the look of them. Don’t be put off by the length of the method. It’s not because it’s hard but because I waffle on about how important each stage is and why.

This makes 24 so 2 x 12 Madeleine tray.
 

Ingredients

120g unsalted butter (this is one of the rare recipes where I respect the need for unsalted butter)

100g caster sugar

2 large eggs

100g plain flour

Optional – orange zest, lemon zest, chocolate chips

1.     Melt the butter in a saucepan and once melted measure 100ml into a jug and pop into the fridge to cool while you get on with the rest. Reserve the rest as you’ll need it in a sec.

2.    Put the sugar and eggs into a smallish bowl and whisk the hell out of it. You want it to go very pale and fluffy (see below). When you think you have finished do it some more. As the egg is the raising agent you want as much air in their as possible.

3.    Sieve (and once again I never sieve flour into bowls unless I believe it actually needs it) the flour on top of the batter. Then fold it into the batter with a metal spoon. Folding is very important to keep the wondrous air in and while you do this the batter will become more dense.

4.    Once the flour is in get the butter out of the fridge and pour it into the batter in thirds, folding in each time. Don't just whack in all of the butter at once as it will take forever to fold in. Now you can add some extra flavours at this stage so fold in zest or rose water but I tend to put the flavours into the tin so they decorate the top of the Madeleine once turned out.

5.    Now put the bowl of batter in the fridge for about 30 minutes. This part is important as it helps the batter solidify and I think generally makes you feel like you have some technique. Then preheat the oven to 190°/GM6.

6.    When the batter is rested brush the Madeleine tin with the remaining melted butter. You don’t need much but this is what ensures that the edges get crisp and colour.

7.    If you want add zest or chocolate chips to each tray. Not too much but a scattering. Then spoon a heaped teaspoon of batter into each tray. You'll need two spoons – one to scoop and one to get the batter off. Don’t be tempted to spread the batter out as this will squish the air out. Just leave it and it will spread out while cooking.

8.    Place the tray in the oven, set the timer for 8 minutes and you’re there. Let them cool in the tray for a few minutes before taking them out. Then they just slide out gently and look amazing. You can dust with icing sugar but for me that's taking being delicate that little bit too far.

 

These taste great warm so if you have people coming over just leave the batter, covered, in the fridge until ready to bake.