Tuesday, March 10, 2015

TWD - Lemon Madeleines




"...presently my aunt would dip a little madeleine in the boiling infusion, whose taste of dead leaves or faded blossom she so relished, and hand me a piece when it was sufficiently soft."
Marcel Proust
‘Du cote de chez Swann’ (1913)

For Tuesday with Dorie this week, we baked a French classic - madeleines.  Madeleines are little sponge-like cakes baked in a shell shaped mould, with a hump on one side.  They are so small and delicate that you could inhale them.

The trick with madeleines is not to overfill the moulds when baking them, as otherwise you get strange ugly barnacles instead of little shells.

Dorie said that we'd only get 12 madeleines out of her batter, but I had plenty of batter left over, so I baked 12 little heart shapes as well:

 
 
I have not always been a fan of madeleines, but I really enjoyed these.  The madeleines were moist, tender and distinctly lemon-tangy, in contrast to some dry madeleines that I have tried.  I took the time to glaze them with lemon glaze, as Dorie suggested.
 
These deceptively simple looking cakes take quite a while to make - you make the batter, wait an hour, put the batter in the tins, wait an hour and finally you bake them.  It is quite a bit of fussing, so make sure you have plenty of time to do it.
 
To see what the other TWD bakers thought of these madeleines, visit the LYL section of the TWD website.

19 comments:

Pam said...

It looks like all the fussing was worth it. They look great and bet they're delicious. Like the plates too!

Merryn said...

These look wonderful. I will have to look at your recipe and dig out the madeleine pans (which I had forgotten existed). Lovely and moist :)

Kari said...

How cute! I don't think I ever knew exactly what madeleines were - these are really delicate and sweet though.

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

I don't mind madeleines. They're certainly pretty but like financiers, they're not my first choice. These do look delightful though!

Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake said...

LOVE your glossy glaze! I used feel the same way about madeleines---maybe because they were never fresh from the oven :)

Denise said...

You achieved such a nice little "bump" on yours ;-) Very pretty!

Unknown said...

Love your little heart shapes! This is my favorite madeleine that we've baked in our Dorie projects. I have a few left and I'm trying to restrain myself.

Anonymous said...

I just love the lemon flavor. So I absolutely love this post.

Kay of Pure & Complex
http://www.purecomplex.com

Unknown said...

Cuties! I love your glaze and the plate, so sweet ;)

yummychunklet said...

Your cookies turned out great! Mine grew to be behemouth sized!

Jora said...

These are lovely. You've convinced me that the glaze is worth it. I haven't made these yet, so I appreciate the warning on the timing.

Zosia said...

I love your little heart-shaped cakes! The recipe is a little fiddly with all of that waiting time but I'm glad you enjoyed them nonetheless.

Cher Rockwell said...

Barnacles, shells - as long as it tastes good, shape doesn't matter right?
Look delicious.

Kathy said...

Perfectly beautiful madeleines, Gaye!! I loved this recipe and the wonderful lemon glaze! I felt as though I finally found the perfect madeleine!

steph- whisk/spoon said...

awww...those hearts are so cute! and I agree that they're easy to gobble up.

Nana said...

These were really delicious weren't they? We
loved them.

Margaret @approachingfood said...

Definitely a tad fussy...but still wayyyyy easier than the grapefruit tart! And tasty, for sure!

Cathleen | My Culinary Mission said...

Even your hearts achieved the hump! Your glaze even looks lemony!

Anonymous said...

I love the heart shapes, those are adorable.