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Madelines
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Madeleines are small cakes that are known for their shell-like shape, that are light, airy and moist. Madeleines can be coated in many things, ranging from pistachios, powdered sugar to a lemon sauce. They are often served hot alongside the hot cup of tea or coffee, or at the 4pm goûter, the french equivalent to a british afternoon tea.
History
During the 18th century, in the region Lorraine, in the French town Commercy, a young servant named Madeline made them for Stanislas Leszczynska, the deposed king of Poland, and she made them when he was exiled to the french region. This began the growing trend of madeleines, and they became popular in Versailles by his daughter Marie, who was married to Louis XV. in the 19th century, another story says the orihi comes from Jean Advice, who was known to be the master of choux pastry. She worked as the chef for Prince Talleyrand and she was considered to have invented them as she baked small cakes in molds.
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reflection
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I loved this dish, it was super delicious. We loved the flavour of the cake, because you could taste both the subtle taste of vanilla but also the lemon flavour. The texture was also very pleasing because it was slightly crunchy on the outside, but on the inside it was light and fluffy. This dessert was not too challenging, but it did involve quite a few techniques to get the perfect madeline. I think with a few more tries I can get these perfect. There wasn't anything necessarily too exciting about this dessert but it's a good staple cake. Next time to improve, I think I need to cook them for less time, because it was a little dry, but they were still great. I liked the garnish of powdered sugar.
Overall this is why we rated the French Madeleine's an 8/10.
Madeline recipe
serves: 24 hands on time: 30 total time: 4.5 hours
ingredients
method
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120 g unsalted butter, melted until browned
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2 teaspoons vanilla extract
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1 and 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest, finely grated
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1 cup all-purpose flour
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1 and 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
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1/4 teaspoon salt
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3 large eggs, at room temperature
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3/4 cup granulated sugar
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1/2 cup icing sugar, sifted, optional
1. Place the butter into a saucepan on medium heat, until it melts. Once the butter has melted, reduce the heat to low and continue cooking, until the solids sink to the bottom of the pan and turn golden brown, about 10 minutes.
2. Remove the butter from heat and pour the browned butter into a bowl. Stir the vanilla and lemon zest into the butter, then set aside to cool.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside until needed.
4. In the bowl, beat the eggs at medium speed while gradually adding the sugar. Once all of the sugar has been added, increase the speed to medium-high and continue whipping the mixture until it's very thick and pale in color, about 3 to 4 minutes.
5. Using a silicon spatula, fold in the flour mixture in three additions, stirring just until combined. Fold in the butter mixture.
6. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 4 hours.
7. Preheat the oven to 190C degrees. Brush the molds of your madeleine pan with butter, then lightly dust with flour.
8. Using 2 spoons, spoon scoops of the batter into the center of each mold. You don't need to spread the batter.
9. Bake for 12 minutes, or until the "bellies" have risen and they're golden brown.
10. Cool madeleines in the pan placed on a cooling rack for a minute or two, then gently loosen them from the molds with a knife.
11. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm.