french butter cakes (madeleines)

[bpollet]

Emily, my wife, loves this kind of french butter cakes... She gave me her family secret to prepare wonderful madeleines...



Ingredients (25 madeleines)

- 2 eggs

- 160g of suggar

- 150g of white flour

- 120g of butter

- 1 Madagascar vanilla pod

- baking soda (1 teaspoon)

Directions:

Open the vanilla pod cutting it in two (divide longwise)

In a large bowl mix together, eggs, suggar, baking soda, vanilla seed (scratch out the seeds)

Melt the butter in a pan and pour it into the bowl. Gently fold the flour into the mixture. Mix gently.

grease a madeleine mold and pour the mixture with a spoon into the mold.

Bake in a preheated oven (240°C) for 10 minutes (always keep an eye on it, the madeleines should be golded not brown)

www.lacuisinedebertrand.com's advices:

You can substiture vanilla seeds by chocolate chips, orange flower water, lemon zest, mirabel liquor...

[bixaorellana]

That picture is very inspiring and the recipe would be easy to do. I suppose the secret is a light hand when adding the flour.

Should the melted butter be well incorporated into the mixture in the bowl before adding the flour?

Also, if a person has no madeleine mold nor way of getting one, what could be used instead? I'm assuming the shallowness of the madeleine cups is part of making them correctly.

[Deleted]

Regarding molds, I think that just about any little mold that you could find would work.

For example...


But of course, then they wouldn't be madeleines! They would be madeleine-flavored funny things.

[bixaorellana]

I have some miniature muffin tins, but wonder if that wouldn't "bunch up" the batter too much.

[Deleted]

Well, here is what a madeleine mold looks like...

[bixaorellana]

Unfortunately, I already knew what it looked like, which is why I know I can't get one here.

But you see my concern about using a muffin tin, as the cups are not wide and shallow.

[Deleted]

There must be some molds available that are not as deep.

Or maybe you could half fill them with cement.

[bpollet]

Oct 18, 2011 16:17:48 GMT bixaorellana said:

That picture is very inspiring and the recipe would be easy to do. I suppose the secret is a light hand when adding the flour.

Should the melted butter be well incorporated into the mixture in the bowl before adding the flour?

Also, if a person has no madeleine mold nor way of getting one, what could be used instead? I'm assuming the shallowness of the madeleine cups is part of making them correctly.

right I don't know the english name for that , but when you add the flour, it has to be slowly and you have to mix at the same time to avoid "grumeaux" (?)

You can add before or after, but I guess it's easier if you add it before because the mixture is more "liquid" while adding the flour and then it may be easier to incormporate the flour

As far as the mold is concerned, I'm not sure of that but maybe you can try with muffin mold (even if I think it is to deep, maybe you can try to half fill it...)

[Deleted]

grumeaux = lumps

[bixaorellana]

Thanks so much, BPollet. I really want to try making them. I'll even go looking for a more appropriate tin.

And thanks for the translation, Kerouac. I understood the word anyway, since the Spanish is the same, except spelled differently: grumos.

[auntieannie]

;D


More seriously, bixabella, there should be ways of filling the muffin molds - not with cement, K! could you use some used aluminium foil that you scrunch up or some baking paper also scrunched up?

[Deleted]

Bixa is always showing us photos of all of those wonderful artisans in Oaxaca. She should just go and have some madeleine pans made to order!

[Deleted]

Is is time to make some madeleines yet?

[fgrsk8r1970]

Great now you make me want to go out and buy a madeleine pan here at the store and make some!!! THANKS A LOT LOL

[Don Cuevas]

I once had a madeleine pan, but I gave it away. It just didn't fit my baking repertoire.

[Deleted]

Even I feel like giving it a try one of these days. But I'd better be able to find a madeleine pan for under 5 euros.

[fgrsk8r1970]

I purchased a pan yesterday and will report on the results hopefully by the end of this week!

[fgrsk8r1970]

I do have one question though.... I am surprised by the "Baking Soda" .... shouldn't this be "Baking Powder" I checked a few other recipes and they call for Baking Powder.
Hmmmmm.......

[Deleted]

Bpollet may have made a mistake and maybe not. I think baking powder and baking soda are considered to be pretty much the same thing in France -- a chemical item that will make batter fizz (and rise).

In France it is called "lévure chimique" or "lévure alsacienne" (but that is simply because l'Alsacienne is the main brand).

[fgrsk8r1970]

I am going to try it with Baking Powder. In Germany we basically only use "Backpulver" which translates to Baking Powder. I did a quick check and here is the explanation:


Question: What Is the Difference Between Baking Soda & Baking Powder?Answer: Both baking soda and baking powder are leavening agents, which means they are added to baked goods before cooking to produce carbon dioxide and cause them to 'rise'. Baking powder contains baking soda, but the two substances are used under different conditions.
Baking Soda

Baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate. When baking soda is combined with moisture and an acidic ingredient (e.g., yogurt, chocolate, buttermilk, honey), the resulting chemical reaction produces bubbles of carbon dioxide that expand under oven temperatures, causing baked goods to rise. The reaction begins immediately upon mixing the ingredients, so you need to bake recipes which call for baking soda immediately, or else they will fall flat!

Baking Powder

Baking powder contains sodium bicarbonate, but it includes the acidifying agent already (cream of tartar), and also a drying agent (usually starch). Baking powder is available as single-acting baking powder and as double-acting baking powder. Single-acting powders are activated by moisture, so you must bake recipes which include this product immediately after mixing. Double-acting powders react in two phases and can stand for a while before baking. With double-acting powder, some gas is released at room temperature when the powder is added to dough, but the majority of the gas is released after the temperature of the dough increases in the oven.

How Are Recipes Determined?

Some recipes call for baking soda, while others call for baking powder. Which ingredient is used depends on the other ingredients in the recipe. The ultimate goal is to produce a tasty product with a pleasing texture. Baking soda is basic and will yield a bitter taste unless countered by the acidity of another ingredient, such as buttermilk. You'll find baking soda in cookie recipes. Baking powder contains both an acid and a base and has an overall neutral effect in terms of taste. Recipes that call for baking powder often call for other neutral-tasting ingredients, such as milk. Baking powder is a common ingredient in cakes and biscuits.


Substituting in Recipes

You can substitute baking powder in place of baking soda (you'll need more baking powder and it may affect the taste), but you can't use baking soda when a recipe calls for baking powder. Baking soda by itself lacks the acidity to make a cake rise. However, you can make your own baking powder if you have baking soda and cream of tartar. Simply mix two parts cream of tartar with one part baking soda.

[komsomol]

That is really interesting to know. Thanks for looking it up.

p.s. I hardly ever bake anything.

[fgrsk8r1970]

OK, I made some Madeleine's just now and did NOT change the above recipe. (well.... except I didn't have a vanilla bean so I used Pure Vanilla Extract about 1/2 tsp). But I did use baking soda - I figured if it doesn't work I'll use baking powder next time.
First off I creamed the sugar and eggs until pale and then added the melted butter slowly, continuing to whisk.
I didn't add the baking soda to the wet mixture (sorry, I just learned to do the dry with dry) so I sifted it with the flour into the wet mixture and folded it gently until I had incorporated it. So this is what I have to say - I expected a liquid batter after that still but it was quite thick. I weighted everything (I have a digital scale I put on metric) so I knew it wasn't an american "use 1 cup for 250 g thing".

I put about one tablespoon (normal eating spoon) into the molds and baked them for 6-7 minutes at 450 F (240 C is actually 460+ F but I thought that would be too much,

As expected the "blob" of batter melted nicely into my madeleine pan but of course it was a little too much - but not bad. The second round I baked at 430 F for 5 minutes and only used 1/2 of the batter I used before and they came out slighly small, but just about filled out the mold.

Overall I think I will bake them at 400 F next time for 7-10 min and it should be fine.

I tasted one and they were light and fluffy - the Cowboy had two already, one with powdered sugar and one with my late moms raspberry jam from Germany. APPROVED !!!



I'll see how they hold the moisture and fluffiness by tomorrow !!

[Deleted]

That's great, skater! I think I'll march into the kitchen immediately! go to the supermarket and buy a bag of madeleines tomorrow.

[fgrsk8r1970]

LOL Kerouac - too bad we can't do a taste test

I just had another one (It was the smaller one ... no really...) and I have to say that I definitely will try it with Baking Powder next time as I think I can taste the soda now a bit more. They are still lovely and with a bit of Jam, Nutella or a cup of tea I don't see them lasting very long.