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It is December 6, the day when St. Nikolaus sneaks in and leaves sweets, clementines and maybe nuts in the shoes and/or socks of children around the world. This is not a very common to find someone around these parts who celebrates. So in honor of the holiday and my husband getting from from Paris I made madeleines. I sure hope that this pleases St. Nikolaus and, of course, Marcel Proust. Possibly my children might, in their future, have a flood of memories when tasting a madeleine as in Remberance of Things Past. See, that BA in English shows itself from time to time, good thing grammar wasn’t necessary for the degree.
When we have been in Germany and France during this holiday it is a big deal. The Christmas Markets are open, people are out (regardless of the weather), sweet treats are baking away. I decided to bake madeleines, a cross between a cookie and a tea cake, because I wish I could have gone to Paris too. They are best straight from the oven. There are not that many things that I enjoy baking. I am not so fond of measuring and other means of specificity, but for these I am willing.
I made 2 batches, one with regular eggs and butter and one with duck eggs and goat butter to satisfy the allergy sufferers in the house. The reason I made the two different batches is not because the ones with duck eggs and goat butter are not as good, but because the ingredients are so much more expensive. I also made two varieties so that we can differentiate by looking at them which is which. Lemon Madeleines with and without lemon glaze are the “regular” ones. Then there is the Triple Citrus Madeleine for the “special ones” with multi colored zest in them.
You will need a special pan for these, but it is so worth it. There are those who insist on tin pans, the silicone pans work great for me and my limited kitchen storage. I get fine results from them including browning. My only grip is that they are floppy, so be sure to set them on a baking tray.
Here is my recipe for Triple Citrus Madeleines (I hope Proust would be pleased.) You can make them with any flavoring you like, or without any. Most common is to find them with just zest and no juice, I like the added lemon kick from the juice. Feel free to leave out the zests or add only one. If you so desire you can dip them in a citrus glaze when they are still warm. Not so popular at our house, it makes them too sweet.
3 eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar, I use organic washed raw sugar
pinch of fine sea salt
zest of 1 lemon, 1 lime and 1/2 an orange
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, I used spelt flour
8 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temp
In a mixer with the whisk attachment beat the eggs, sugar and salt until thick. Add the zest and juice. Remove from the mixer. The rest you do by hand. Mix the flour into the batter, when combined add the cooled butter and mix until incorporated. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight. For better results chill the pans before baking (in winter I just set them outside for a few minutes.)
Preheat oven to 425F. Fill molds 3/4 full. do not spread in the mold, just eyeball it. Don’t worry, if you fill one too full, it will just have wings and you will have to eat that one straight from the oven. Bake for 10 mintes for the mini ones, longer obviously if you are making the standard size. Remove to a cooling rack.
Makes 100 petite madeleines
Citrus Glaze:
3/4 cup powdered sugar
juice from 1/2 lemon or lime
just dip and drain on a cooling rack.
