Lemon Madeleines

I absolutely love madeleines. These little French cakes (not actually cookies) are very delicate and flavorful, and are perfect when paired with tea or coffee. You do need to purchase a madeleine pan, which can be found at any Sur la Table or Williams-Sonoma. They're a little expensive, but worth it if you like madeleines. I wouldn't recommend a silicone madeleine pan; I purchased one but I found that the cakes actually stick to the silicone, even when sprayed with Pam. A good nonstick metal pan is the best.

This recipe also calls for lemon emulsion, which is a lemon flavoring that is thicker and stronger than regular extract. Lemon extract can also be used, but you may want to increase the amount that you use, depending on how strong of a lemon taste you want to achieve.

Madeleines pulled out from the oven. You can see the little "hump" on the back of the cakes, which is also characteristic of madeleines.


Cooled madeleines. You can see the shell pattern on the front of the cakes, and the slighly crisp edges.


Lemon Madeleines

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon slat
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoon lemon emulsion
*confectioner's sugar for dusting

Beat together the eggs and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat until the mixture has increased in volume, and is thick and lemon-y in color. When the paddle is lifted from the bowl, the mixture should fall off from the paddle in a thick ribbon. This usually takes around 5 minutes or so.

Add the vanilla extract and lemon emulsion and beat to combine.

In another bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder.

Slowly, add the flour mixture to the egg mixture.

Once all the flour has been incorporated, slowly pour in the melted and cooled butter into the batter. Mix until the butter is just combined.

Let the batter rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
(please dont skip this step, as it causes the batter to firm up. It also affects the consistency of the finished cakes)

While the batter is resting, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Spray a madeleine pan with a nonstick baking spray, or grease generously with butter.

Drop spoonfuls of batter into the mold, leaving it mounded in the center (you do not need to spread the batter out into the mold; it will spread out on its own while baking).

Bake the madeleines for 9-11 minutes (depending on the size of the pan). The edges should be golden brown, and the center will spring back when lightly touched.

Let the cakes cool slightly before removing them from the pan. Lay them smooth sides down on a wire rack to cool completely.

When the cakes have cooled completely, you can dust confectioners sugar over the tops before serving.