Madeleines

MAD ELE INES by Linda L. Austin

CITRUS ALMOND

SPICE COCOA

Several years ago, I was gifted a Madeleine pan, the shell indented cookie tray that shapes lovely, sweet or savory treats. I experimented with several recipes because if you have a pan taking up space in your cabinet, you should use it. It needs to earn its footprint. I’ve tried vanilla, lemon, chocolate, chocolate chip, spice, and almond, and I am only getting started. I feel ready to experiment a bit, although that is a little out of my nature. Baking has always demanded “follow the recipe.” Trying the savory recipes is the next project, and baking cornbread.d in them might be fun.

When he was 2 years-old, my oldest grandson, Ethan, used to enjoy the local bakery’s madeleines which is one of the reasons I began the quest to find super recipes. That was over 20 years ago. The pan remained dormant for months on end as he grew older, but he would have enjoyed them at any age, as I still do.

Now that our family has new infants and toddlers, I have rediscovered that pan. My 2 year-old great grandson, Jackson, has taste-tested two recipes and left no crumbs. I have a few madeleines in the freezer for a treat as needed.

The recipes are easy, quick, and usually make only enough for one pan. If you need two pans, cook only one at a time. Cool and grease the pan before reusing.

A friend asked me where the name madeleine came from. That question made me curious, too. The French town of Commercy had a convent dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene. Since Madeleine is a French form of Magdalene, and Commercy is always linked to the little cookie, historians think the nuns sold the treats to fund their projects, then sold the recipe to bakers when all the convents were abolished during the French Revolution.

Adults as well as kids enjoy these French spongy cake-incookie form delights. While they are best the first day and enjoyed warm, they do hold well for two additional days and are as good as a cinnamon bun with coffee for breakfast.

Basic Madeleine Cookie Recipe

With a madeleine pan taking up space on a shelf, I felt obligated to find a few good recipes to use it. When Ethan was little, Dana would stroll him downtown and buy him a madeleine at the bakery. That, too, was inspiration to find the best recipes. This is a good one, as I think all recipes from Epicurious are. As with all madeleine cookies, liberally use melted butter to grease the pan.

2 large eggs 2/3 cup sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup all purpose flour 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375°F. Generously butter and flour pan for large madeleines (about 3 x 1 1/4 inches). Using electric mixer, beat eggs and 2/3 cup sugar in large bowl just to blend. Beat in vanilla and salt. Add flour; beat just until blended. Gradually add cooled melted butter in steady stream, beating just until blended.

Spoon 1 tablespoon batter into each indentation in pan. Bake until puffed and brown, about 10-16 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. Gently remove from pan. Repeat process, buttering and flouring pan before each batch. (Can be made 1 day ahead.)

Dust cookies with powdered sugar.

For almond madeleines: add 1/4 cup ground almonds, 1/4 teaspoon almond extract, and reduce flour to 3 tablespoons. For citrus madeleines: add 2 teaspoons lemon or orange zest. For spice madeleines: add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander, 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, 1/3 teaspoon ground allspice, reduce sugar to 1/4 cup and add 3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar. For madeleines: reduce flour to 3/4 cup, add 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa, increase sugar to 1 cup, butter to 12 tablespoons and eggs to 4 eggs. For chocolate chip madeleines: add 3.5 ounces dark chocolate, chopped into very small pieces, remove vanilla.