Madeleines
These Madeleines are light, fluffy little cakes with a delicate vanilla flavor. Perfect for any occasion, they’re an elegant treat to enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea.
Servings: 24
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup cake flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter melted
- butter or oil for the baking pan
- Powdered sugar for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract in a standing mixer with a whisk attachment or a hand mixer until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, mix the cake flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
- Sift the dry ingredients into the fluffy egg mixture and gently fold it in.
- When there are just a few streaks of flour left, pour in the melted butter and continue folding until the batter is an even consistency. It will take a few minutes for everything to come together, just be patient and soon you will have a beautiful, evenly mixed batter.
- For best results, place the batter in the refrigerate for one hour or overnight. You can bake it right away and it will work out too, but the madeleines turn out best if the batter has time to rest and cool.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease the madeleine baking pan with butter or oil very generously. Fill the molds all the way to the top with the batter.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 8-12 minutes, depending on your oven. Mine were perfectly baked in 9 minutes. The bottom and sides of the madeleines would be golden brown and the puffed up top should spring back when you touch it lightly with your finger.
- Cool the madeleines for about 5 minutes in the baking pan and then take them out of the pan and cool on a cooling rack. Dust with powdered sugar, if you would like.
Notes
Cake flour is the best for this recipe. If you use all purpose flour, the madeleines will not be as tender. If you don't have cake flour on hand, measure out one cup of all purpose flour and take out 2 Tablespoons of the flour. Add 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch to the flour and sift the flour and cornstarch together about 3 times. This is a great substitute for cake flour.
For a different flavor, add orange or lemon zest to the batter. You can also add almond extract, rum, bourbon, cognac, etc in addition or in place of the vanilla extract. You can make the madeleines chocolate by substituting ¼ cup of flour for unsweetened cocoa powder.
