Some people may get intimidated by the thought of making any French recipes, but honestly, this is one of the easiest baked goods you will ever make!

What is Madeleines

Madeleines are classic French tea cakes that people eat as a snack or side dish along with their cup of coffee or tea. Madeleines have a shell-like shape that’s come from the way they are baked in madeleine moulds. Madeleines have a dense, buttery cake texture; should be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. You could say that they are more similar to a pound cake since all the main ingredients are almost of the same measurement.

How to Make Madeleines

The moulds that you will use for this madeleines recipe is going to be the classic shell-shape one, but the material of the moulds are very crucial too. Why? Well, when baking, the material of the moulds are pretty important to the outcome of the product. There are 3 materials you can choose from for these moulds: steel, aluminium and silicone. For madeleines, in my opinion, it’s best to use steel, non-stick moulds. Steel is great for transferring heat and it will also give you the crispy outer layer while silicone takes longer to bake and it won’t give you the crispy outer layer you want. As for aluminium, it’s not great for long-term use because the material is so brittle but it will be the cheapest option.

In this madeleines recipe, I will suggest that you use the same moulds I did which is the steel, non-stick material. But do keep in mind that even though the material is non-stick, you will still need to grease the moulds with butter and flour. This is because the shell-shaped moulds have lots of crevasses that will end up getting your madeleines fairly stuck to the moulds unless you grease them well.

The Best Madeleines Recipe

This madeleines recipe, will bring you to make two flavours; vanilla and strawberry madeleines, that are both dipped in white chocolate to give it a more modern twist. I decided to make two flavours for this madeleines recipe because I always love it when there is more than one option to eat your food. Strawberry is a great flavour for madeleines but feel free to use other flavours too, like: chocolate, matcha, lemon, etc.

What's more about this recipe is; I also dipped the madeleines in white chocolate because it gives a modern appearance to these cake, very Pinterest-worthy if I may say so. You also have the option to make them plain. All ou have to do is dust them with powdered sugar or dip them in milk or dark chocolate or sugar glaze.

There are many ways you can go when making french madeleines. They’re easy to make and you can get creative when it comes to flavours and appearance. Have them during tea time, for breakfast, as a snack or as a side dish to go along with your coffee. Nonetheless, it’s a very fun recipe to make and a great dish to snack!

Additional Notes from Author:

• You can play around with other different flavours you want.
• Use a non-stick steel mould to get the best texture outcome. Nowadays they have many other shapes too so you can make them whatever shape you want.
• When dusting your moulds with flour, make sure to tap the excess out of the pan so that it leaves a thin layer of flour. A thick layer of flour will show up on the finished results.
• After baking, take them out of the moulds right away while they’re still hot, otherwise, they will tend to stick to the moulds more once it’s cooled.

Some terms you might need to know:

• Simmered
• Dollop