Description
Classic French Madeleines are delicate, buttery, shell-shaped sponge cakes with a hint of lemon and vanilla. Perfectly crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, these little cakes are ideal for tea time or dessert. This recipe involves preparing a light batter that is refrigerated overnight for the best texture, then baked quickly until golden.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 3/4 cup + 1 tbsp plain flour (all purpose flour)
- 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
Wet Ingredients
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2/3 cup caster sugar (superfine sugar) (ordinary/granulated sugar ok too)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil (or other neutral oil)
- 3 tbsp milk, full fat (low fat ok too)
- 2 tsp honey (or maple syrup)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- 135g / 9.5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted, warm (not hot)
For baking
- Canola oil spray (or other neutral oil)
- Icing sugar / powdered sugar (optional, for dusting)
Instructions
- Sift flour: Sift the plain flour and baking powder into a bowl to combine and aerate the dry ingredients.
- Whisk eggs and sugar: Using a handheld beater or whisk, vigorously beat the eggs and caster sugar for about 2 minutes until the mixture is pale in color and foamy, indicating that air has been incorporated.
- Mix flour in parts: Gradually add the sifted flour mixture in three additions, folding it gently into the egg mixture each time to avoid deflating the batter.
- Add other wet ingredients: Stir in the salt, vegetable oil, milk, honey, vanilla extract, and lemon zest until the mixture is well combined.
- Add melted butter: Gently fold in the warm melted butter with a rubber spatula until just combined; the batter will be fairly thin but should leave a faint ribbon for a moment when drizzled on the surface.
- Cover and refrigerate: Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, ensuring the wrap touches the batter surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate the batter for a minimum of 6 hours or overnight to help it develop flavor and texture.
- Prepare baking molds and bake: Preheat your oven to 190°C (375°F). Lightly spray madeleine molds with canola or neutral oil spray. Spoon the chilled batter into the molds, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the edges are golden and the centers spring back when touched.
- Cool and serve: Remove the madeleines from the oven and immediately unmold them onto a wire rack to cool slightly. Dust with icing sugar if desired before serving.
Notes
- For best results, use eggs at room temperature to help the batter emulsify properly.
- Refrigerating the batter overnight is key to achieving the signature hump and texture of madeleines.
- If you don’t have a madeleine pan, you can use mini muffin tins but the shape won’t be the traditional shell.
- The batter should be thin but well mixed; avoid overmixing to keep cakes tender.
- Dust with powdered sugar before serving for an elegant touch.
