At the moment I seem to be slightly baking obsessed and am currently in search of the perfect Double Chocolate Madeleines, as well as the quest for the ultimate chocolate cake, but that is another post. I last made them about 3 years ago, and obviously liked them enough to write up the recipe.
Last week I was sent some samples from Hotel Chocolat, I will soon be having a chocolate giveaway, and used two of their products in my madeleines. I baked this batch for my chocoholic friend S for her birthday. She is just out of hospital and confined to her flat so I popped round yesterday with a bowl of warm madeleines. I felt very Bree as I delivered them wrapped in a tea towel and still warm, although it was a distinct possibility that Bree would not have gone out in public with my level of dishevelment.
As remembered from 3 years ago, researching how to bake madeleines can lead to a huge time sink. There are umpteen recipes and a myriad of blog posts all with conflicting information, even more than when I first cooked them.
Melt the butter – or not? I did.
Add some milk? I didn’t.
Tin or silicone tray? Silicone for me, always although I may experiment with a metal tray (sadly Lakeland do not have a madeleine tray in their excellent Baking Genius range).
Turn the oven temperature down 2/3 of the way through cooking? Of course not – I may currently be baking obsessed but I still want to remain relatively Fuss Free.
You need good butter, I used Lurpak unsalted, I am sure the purists would use a French brand, but my palate is not quite that good. If you want to get the characteristic madeleine “hump” you need to chill your batter for a good few hours, but half an hour in the fridge leads to equally delicious madeleines with a smaller hump. I chilled mine overnight, making it easy to bake first thing in the morning and encouraging a Domestic Goddess image!
The double chocolate comes from adding cocoa and liquid chocolate from Hotel Chocolat. Liquid chocolate is finely chopped quality chocolate intended for melting into hot milk to make a drink, after some experiments I discovered it is perfect for adding to cakes to scatter chocolate flecks throughout them. I am sure that finely grating a good plain chocolate would work as well. I generally prefer using Imperial measurements, but my scales also work to the nearest gram, so measurements are given in grams for the sake of accuracy.
Double Chocolate Madeleines
Ingredients
- 75 g Butter – melted and cooled
- 2 Large Eggs
- 90 g Granulated Sugar
- 90 g Plain Flour
- 10 g Cocoa Powder
- ½ Tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Vanilla Essence
- 2 tbs grated plain chocolate
- Pinch of salt (if using unsalted butter)
- 10 g butter (for greasing the pan)
Instructions
- Whisk the eggs and sugar together until they have doubled in size and are light and fluffy. Slowly fold in the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Add the vanilla essence and chocolate flecks. Slowly add in the melted butter, gently folding all the time, the batter should be foamy and full of air. When mixed cover the bowl and put in the fridge for at least 30 mins, preferably overnight. Put a dollop of the mixture into a well buttered Madeleine tray, each mould should be about 2/3 full. Place in an oven at 375F/ 190C/ GM 5 for around 7 minutes until risen and shrinking away from the edges of the mould.
- Leave for a few minutes and then turn out.
- The Madeleines are best enjoyed when still warm and crisp on the outside, eat on the day you bake them, they really are not the same the next day.
the caked crusader
Beautiful looking madeleines – I have tins and haven’t used them yet (even though they’ve been in the cupboard all shiny and new for over 2 years!). Your baking has inspired me!
jodye @ 'scend food
Your madeleines look beautiful!
Nic
Oh those look fabulous! I must look out for the liquid chocolate next time I go shopping, not heard of it before.
Camilla
Yummy, I’ve not seen chocolate Madeleines before, I need a tin now!