I thought I had better bake some madeleines, just because.....well, that's the name of my blog! And of course, madeleines are delicious and I hadn't made them in quite a while. If you think about it, they do look like seashells, which to me seems like the perfect cake for a mermaid to nibble on - a welcome respite from seaweed and algae and whatever else it is that mermaids eat.
In my experience with baking madeleines, they are always best eaten very fresh so I'd say you have to eat them the day you bake them. I'm not one for spending loads of money on swanky new kitchen equipment, but it's really worth investing in a madeleine cake tin, and don't buy it if it's any more than £10.
I love traditional madeleines. And often I don't like to mess around with the classics. But I had a vision of these marbled madeleines with a sweet vanilla swirled with intense dark chocolate. And this is what I have created, I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
The recipe itself is very simple and the batter requires no chilling or resting, so these are lovely and quick to make. Here is the recipe which I adapted from Felicity Cloake's recipe at The Guardian.
Ingredients:
90g/3oz butter, and a bit to grease the tin as well
2 medium eggs
70g/2 1/2 oz caster sugar
15g/1 tbsp demerara sugar
2 tsp runny honey
90g/3oz plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp vanilla extract
100g dark chocolate melted
Makes about 14-16 madeleines.
Preheat oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4/350F
First begin by greasing your tin and set aside for later.
Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat, and once melted leave to cool. Whisk the eggs along with both sugars until voluminous and lightened in colour. Then whisk in the honey and vanilla extract followed by the cooled melted butter.
Mix the flour and baking powder together and gently fold into the egg mixture. Pop about two teaspoons of the batter into each madeleine shell followed by about half a teaspoon of the melted dark chocolate. Swirl this with a fork to give it a marble effect and repeat this with the rest of the madeleines.
Pop into the oven for 9-10 minutes (mine were done after 9 minutes), and then leave them in the tray for 5 minutes just to cool slightly. You can then prise them out of their moulds, transfer to a plate and enjoy them whilst the chocolate is still delectably molten.