This madeleine recipe is from my friend, Diane Quan, who is a very talented pastry chef.  Months ago, I tried my hand at madeleines – all the recipes I found were too complicated…one asked to leave the batter overnight in a refrigerator which resulted in the butter floating up and solidifying!  I even tried dusting off my very little knowledge of French and used a recipe book I picked up in Nice.  Tout ne success pas.  (I really think it was my rusty French not the recipe!  So much for remembrance of things past!)  Finally, I asked Diane to show me how, and she generously shared the recipe for this tender, yet moist cookie.  It has been a breeze ever since.

I have adapted the recipe to fool-proofed it for my own sake.  I have adjusted it to my taste (yes, less sweet) and converted the measurements to grams for precision …thanks to my digital scale (a must have for any who wants to bake).  I prefer to weigh my ingredients when it comes to baking rather than to rely on cup measurements.  Cake flour, for example, as it compacts easily, asks you to sift the flour prior to measuring, so with weighing, you eliminate any discrepancies.  It is very important to stick to the type of flour specified because of the gluten content.  It will determine how tender your madeleines will be.  If you ever want to learn more about flour types and why, or any science related to food, get the Harold McGee bible On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen.

Chef’s tip: Butter, egg must be at room temperature to ensure a fluffy and light dough.  Also, use the silver madeleine pans (not the nonstick ones) for better heat distribution.   Just butter it with room temperature butter generously with your fingers, then sift in flour, tap it over the sink and voila, you will have a nonstick pan!  Amazon carries very good tin-sheet madeleine pans at a good price.  

6 oz unsalted butter, room temperature
140 g sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
95g cake flour
35g all purpose flour
2 “AA” eggs, room temperature
Zest of 1 orange, meyer lemon or tangelo
1 teaspoon cardamom, finely ground

2 Tablespoons butter for greasing the pans
Some flour

Preheat oven 350F
1.    Beat butter and sugar till very light.  Add vanilla.  Beat to incorporate.
2.    Sift together the flours.
3.    Beat in the flour in 2 batches, alternating with egg, into the butter mixture.
4.    Fold in orange zest and cardamom
5.    Grease 2 madeleine sheets (shiny ones)  well with butter.  Dust with flour and shake out excess flour.
6.    Using the help of an additional spoon, drop in 1 heaping tablespoon of the batter into the madeleine moulds – to fill about ¾ full.  Smooth out any peaks.
7.    Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges are browned.  Turn out onto a cookie rack to cool.
8.    Dust with confectioners’ sugar.

Makes: 24