TWD - Madelines

This week’s TWD recipe is madelines. Madelines are small shell caked sponge like cakes. They are of French origin. I have made madelines a few times before – mainly because I bought the Madeline tray and have felt obliged to use it.

The ones we made this week were traditional. They were flavoured with lemon zest (rubbed into the sugar which is a fantastic way to impart the real oiliness of the lemon zest into the cakes) and a dash of vanilla. In the past I have made chocolate ones and also rose scented. The recipe worked out great – my shells kept their shape and were nicely crusted on the outside. I think the trick of chilling the mixture before baking helped them keep their shape. The madelines are best eaten within a few hours of making and in my mind, are probably best when there is still some residual warmth from baking.



I find these to be quite plain little cakes – as they are intended to be. However, I think I prefer to eat them with something to jazz them up a bit – like whipped cream or jam. I actually froze them when I made them on Saturday. Last night our architect coming round, so I defrosted them and dipped the ends in some warmed ganache I had left over from some tarts I made in the weekend. They were really delicious and came through the freezing process extremely well!



See the other TWDers’ madelines here.