Lemon-Glazed Medeleines

The moment I have been waiting for for such a long time has finally arrived. I am making Madeleines! These little shell-shaped bites of heaven that Proust wrote an endless account of have been an obsession of mine for some time now. I have never been able to find an excuse to spend the money to buy the special pan needed to make them before this baking project, and then, right before I bought the pan a family friend offered me her unused silicone one.

Oh! A note to readers; I changed a setting on my blog so that anyone can comment. You don't have to join the blog network that I am using. Just a little tidbit I thought I would share with you. I love comments, and any suggestions are extremely welcome!

Back to the madeleine. There is not much known about their origin, though people have come up with their own hypothesis. The only known fact is that they come from the town of Commercy in France. Legend attributes the cake to Avice, chef to Tallyrand, the French statesman. The reason for the name is unknown. Some chefs say that it was created in honor of a young girl name Madeleine that made them for Stanislas Leszczynska, the exiled Polish king. They say that the cookies grew in popularity under the rule of, Marie Leszczynska, his daughter, the queen of France and her husband, Louis XV. These are just some of the speculations.

Unfortunately, the first part of my madeleine venture is a sad one. After my raving about madeleines and making the perfect scalloped cookie I smelled a hint of something burning in the air. I opened the oven, and to my dismay smoke came billowing out. My oven went all wonky after the cookies went in and the temperature was up to 500 degrees! I immediately took them out and opened tons of windows. The next thing I had to do was look up silicone online to see if they could withstand that kind of heat without all those chemicals seeping into the cookies. There was speculation about their resistance to heat (anywhere from 428-500), but I was worried, so I immediately went to Williams-Sonoma and bought myself a new shiny, metal one.


At first I was discouraged, but I wanted to make some good ones, so I launched myself into the project once more. This time they came out absolutely lovely! The metal pan made all of the difference. They were able to achieve a wonderful texture and elegantly browned edges. If you are at all considering in investing in a pan definitely go for metal.


Lemon-Glazed Madeleine

3 large eggs, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
rounded 1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup flour
zest of one small lemon
9 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature, plus additional melted butter for preparing the molds

Glaze

3/4 cup (150g) powdered sugar
1 tablespoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons water

1. Brush the indentations of a madeleine mold with melted butter. Dust with flour, tap off any excess, and place in the fridge or freezer.

2. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, whip the eggs, granulated sugar, and salt for 5 minutes until frothy and thickened.

3. Spoon the flour into a sifter and use a spatula to fold in the flour as you sift it over the batter.

4. Add the lemon zest to the cooled butter, then dribble the butter into the batter, a few spoonfuls at a time, while simultaneously folding to incorporate the butter. Fold just until all the butter is incorporated.

5. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (Batter can be chilled for up to 12 hours.)

6. To bake the madeleines, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

8. Plop enough batter in the center of each indentation with enough batter which you think will fill it by 3/4's. Do not spread it.

10. Bake for 8-9 minutes or until the cakes just feel set. While the cakes are baking, make a glaze in a small mixing bowl by stirring together the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and water until smooth.

11. Remove from the oven and tilt the madeleines out onto a cooling rack. The moment they're cool enough to handle, dip each cake in the glaze, turning them over to make sure both sides are coated and scrape off any excess with a dull knife. After dipping, rest each one back on the cooking rack, scalloped side up, until the cakes are cool and the glaze has firmed up.