French Madeleines
Serves: 12 or more cakes
These classic French madeleines are dainty little sponge cakes baked in a scallop-shaped mould. This madeleine recipe includes tips on how to make the perfect madeleines with step-by-step photos.
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 150 g (½ cup plus 3 tablespoons) caster sugar, (superfine sugar)
- 150 g (1 cup) plain flour, (all-purpose flour)
- 1 pinch fine salt
- 5 g (1 teaspoon) baking powder
- 1 lemon, zested
- 150 g (1 ½ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
Instructions
- In a large bowl, or the bowl of an electric stand mixer, whisk together the eggs and sugar until the mixture is thick and pale yellow. This step should take 1-2 minutes using an electric stand-mixer, or a bit longer if you are whisking by hand.
- Add the flour, salt and baking powder. Mix until everything is thoroughly combined.
- Next add the lemon zest (or see variations below in Kitchen Notes) and melted butter.
- Continue whisking until you have a thick and smooth batter.
- Leave the batter to rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 270°C/518°F (without fan).
- Generously grease the madeleine mould with butter and flour, even if it is non-stick. Another option is to use a non-stick baking spray.
- Fill each madeleine mould until about 3/4 full, either with a spoon or with a piping bag filled with the batter.
- Place the madeleine pan in the oven, and immediately turn down the temperature to 210°C/410°F.
- Bake until the madeleine cakes have risen and are lightly golden on top. For large madeleine moulds similar to that pictured, this should take about 7-10 minutes, depending on your oven.
- Remove the madeleine pan from the oven, and wait a few minutes before carefully removing the cakes from the moulds.
- Leave the cakes to cool on a wire rack (the ridge-side facing down), and serve them warm or cold.
Kitchen Notes
- VARIATIONS
Substitute the lemon zest with:
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 tablespoon honey and/or 1 tablespoon orange blossom water
* 1 cup chocolate chips - MAKE-AHEAD TIPS
The batter can be made several days ahead of time and left in the fridge to rest. I have kept batter in the fridge for up to 5 days with no problems. - STORAGE TIPS
The madeleines are best eaten on the same day they are baked, and preferably when they are still warm. - OVEN TEMPERATURES
All recipes on this website state temperatures for a regular oven (i.e. a conventional oven without fan). If you have a convection oven with a fan, please consult the manufacturer's handbook on how to adjust the temperature and baking time accordingly. - CONVERSIONS
To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.