Tuesday, June 3, 2008

TWD-Madeleines

First of all, I have to say how excited I am that I finally figured out how to take close-up pics without it turning out blurry! Yippie! Second, the reason I did Madeleines this week is because I was busy packing and moving and packed my cocoa and all my chocolate was at my mom's, so I thought I would try these instead, in a mini-muffin pan because I was dying to try them. They were chosen by Tara of Smells Like Home. Everyone else made French Chocolate Brownies, chosen by Di of Di's Kitchen Notebook, so go to Tuesday's with Dorie, to see how they turned out. By the way, these were incredible!





My helper was supposed to be sprinkling on the powdered sugar, but got sneaky and wanted to try one instead.

Traditional Madeleines
Source: Dorie Greenspan, Baking: From My Home to Yours
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
½ cup sugar
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¾ stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Working in a mixer bowl, or in a large bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the eggs to the bowl. Working with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together on medium-high speed until pale, thick and light, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. With a rubber spatula, very gently fold in the dry ingredients, followed by the melted butter. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the batter and refrigerate it for at least 3 hours, or for up to 2 days. This long chill period will help the batter form the hump that is characteristic of madeleines. (For convenience, you can spoon the batter into the madeleine molds, cover and refrigerate, then bake the cookies directly from the fridge; see below for instructions on prepping the pans.)
GETTING READY TO BAKE:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter 12 full-size madeleine molds, or up to 36 mini madeleine molds, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. Or, if you have a nonstick pan (or pans), give it a light coating of vegetable cooking spray. If you have a silicone pan, no prep is needed. Place the pan(s) on a baking sheet.
Spoon the batter into the molds, filling each one almost to the top. Don’t worry about spreading the batter evenly, the oven’s heat will take care of that. Bake large madeleines for 11 to 13 minutes, and minis for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are golden and the tops spring back when touched. Remove the pan(s) from the oven and release the madeleines from the molds by rapping the edge of the pan against the counter. Gently pry any recalcitrant madeleines from the pan using your fingers or a butter knife. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool to just warm or to room temperature.
If you are making minis and have more batter, bake the next batch(es), making certain that you cool, then properly prepare the pan(s) before baking.
Just before serving, dust the madeleines with confectioners’ sugar.
Makes 12 large or 36 mini cookies


14 comments:

Sarah said...

They look great! I also did an older TWD recipe this week instead of the brownies. Good job!

Andrea said...

I hope you settle into your new digs soon. Well done to bake in the middle of packing (well a girl needs to snack doesn't she).
Aren't the madeleines lovely?

April said...

They look great! Good luck on your move!

Annemarie said...

I'll have to try these in a mini muffin pan! Who do we know in common? That is so cool!

CB said...

Adorable maddies! Happy moving...
Clara @ I♥food4thought

Bumblebutton said...

They look so pretty! Nice job...and good luck with the move!

Jayne said...

Great job! And your helper did a great job, too!

Di said...

It took me a while to figure out the close-up thing as well. Gotta love the macro setting. Your madeleines look great!

Unknown said...

Your madeleines look fantastic - the pictures make me think I won't need to buy a special pan when I get around to trying them.

LyB said...

Your mini muffin madeleines look so cute! And you can always bake the brownies as a treat for when you're done unpacking. ;)

Annemarie said...

Thanks Maryann! Could you give me Lissel's blog address? She has left comments on my other blog, but I haven't been able to find hers.

Susan @ SGCC said...

I actually love these more than the brownies. I just adore madeleines! Yours look so pretty, too! Well done!

Jaime said...

beautiful photos! GL w/your move!

Jules Someone said...

They look yummy. Good luck with the move.