Lemon Almond Madeleines

I wish my life was as simple as Pusheen's

So several things happened when I arrived back to school:

• I moved off-campus for the first time into a 9-room house 5 minutes away and realized that the house was absolutely disgusting and that my room smelled like a wet dumpster.
• I then had a tiny breakdown on the phone with my parents, where they promptly told me it was all my fault and I had to suck it up.
• I went shopping for tons of Lysol and Febreze
• I cleaned for two days straight.

So yeah, it's been quite week. But at least now I'm almost settled which means I can finally go back to my beloved baking. Which brings me to these madeleines.

According to Wikipedia, madeleines, small sponge cakes baked into a shell shape, were named for a 19th century French pastry chef named Madeleine Paulmier (hmm were Palmiers named after her too?) and ever since then, they have been a classic staple of French pastry and are known for their soft, delicately sweet sponge-like texture and classic hump on the back.

I had my first madeleine a few years back, when one of my friends brought them to a party and at first I didn't think much of them. But then I had more and the more I had, the more I started to like them. They reminded me of the spongecakes that I loved as a kid and are even better than cake because they are small, have no frosting, and are so easy to eat. And eat.

So for my first madeleine experiment, I used a recipe from Dave Lebovitz's book, The Sweet Life in Paris, which includes lemon zest and glaze. I left out the glaze and instead added vanilla and almond extract to better bring out the lemon flavor. Or so I thought. Turns out I either didn't add enough almond or vanilla or that it really didn't make a difference because the madeleines I tasted in the end tasted like madeleines that had a tiny hint of lemon zing. Like a minuscule amount considering I added nearly a tablespoon of lemon zest to the batter. Lesson learned again: always add more than required lemon zest. 

Also another tip, if using a mini-madeleine pan, do not heat the oven to 425 degrees and cook for 8 minutes because this is only for the normal-sized madeleines and really cold ovens. They will most definitely burn. And they will look like madeleines made from hell. Instead, heat to 375 degrees and bake for 6-7 minutes until you can see that the edges are golden and they feel firm to the touch and not sticky. 

Epic madeleine fail.

Here is the recipe with my notes from Dave Lebovitz's site:

Lemon Glazed Madeleines 

*adapted for mini-madeleines

INGREDIENTS

Madeleienes

3 large eggs, at room temperature

2/3 cup (130g) granulated sugar

rounded 1/8 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cup (175g) flour

1 teaspoon baking powder (optional)

zest of one small lemon

9 tablespoons (120g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature, plus additional melted butter for preparing the molds

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract 

Glaze

3/4 cup (150g) powdered sugar

1 tablespoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice

2 tablespoons water

DIRECTIONS:

1. Brush the indentations of a madeleine mold with melted butter. Dust with flour, tap off any excess, and place in the fridge or freezer. NOT NECESSARY if using a non-stick pan. It makes a very crusty madeleine which is not good. 

2. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, whip the eggs, granulated sugar, and salt for 5 minutes until frothy and thickened. I had a malfunctioning handmixer so it took me like 8 min on high speed. You want the batter to be a pale yellow color with lots of little bubbles.

3. Spoon the flour and baking powder, if using, into a sifter or mesh strainer and use a spatula to fold in the flour as you sift it over the batter. (Rest the bowl on a damp towel to help steady it for you.)

4. Add the lemon zest to the cooled butter, then dribble 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.

5. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (Batter can be chilled for up to 12 hours.) I refrigerated mine for like 4 hours. It turns into this super sticky thick batter. If you want a better hump, you can also throw your madeleine pan into the freezer for 5 minutes to get it really cold.

6. To bake the madeleines, preheat the oven to 425 375-400 degrees. 

7. Plop enough batter in the center of each indentation with enough batter which you think will fill it by 3/4′s. Do not spread it. I used a pastry bag and I think it's much easier to pipe in 3/4 full instead of spooning it in.

8. Bake for 8-9  5-6 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. You need to watch them! They cook really fast and burn if you do not keep an eye on them. Open the oven to check if you really need to. 

• 

  Sorry for the bad picture. The oven was really hot.

• 9. OPTIONAL: Remove from the oven and tilt the madeleines out onto a cooling rack. The moment they’re cool enough to handle, dip each cake in the glaze, turning them over to make sure both sides are coated and scrape off any excess with a dull knife. After dipping, rest each one back on the cooking rack, scalloped side up, until the cakes are cool and the glaze has firmed up.
• Storage: Glazed madeleines are best left uncovered, or not tightly-wrapped; they’re best eaten the day they’re made. They can be kept in a container for up to three days after baking, if necessary.

  

  Perfecto!

  Since this is only my first attempt, I don't know how good this recipe is compared to others but I will try other versions now that I got my awesome no-prep madeleine pan. 
• So what are you doing now sitting at your computer? Go make some madeleines! And tea. And crumpets. Whatever the French like to have with their madeleines.