Lemon Madeleines

I had wanted to make madeleines for the longest time and had many email exchanges with Pat from Cooking Down Under about it. The one thing holding me back was shelling out (pun intended!) for the madeleine trays. I just couldn't justify buying a tray that made one thing only. But when I finally saw them on sale at DJ (David Jones for the uninitiated), I couldn't resist and bought two trays.

To start, I thought I would do the simplest version of madeleines, lemon. The batter itself was ultra easy to make. However, the fiddly work to grease all the shells and put in the mixture was rather time consuming. However, the final results made it all worth it. The madeleines looked amazing and tasted good too. But it was the look that just kept me admiring them for ages ("My preciousssssssssssssss....."). I decided to dip the bottom tip in chocolate to make it look like those cockle shells with the black tips on the bottom.



Lemon Madeleines
Adapted from recipe on Tartlette's blog

Makes 14 large madeleines

INGREDIENTS
2 eggs
80 g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
80 g caster sugar
80 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
pinch of salt
3 tbsp lemon juice
zest of one lemon
1/2 lemon (for squirting after they are baked)
extra melted butter for greasing madeleine molds

METHOD

1. Preheat your oven to 200C.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, sugar, pinch of salt.

3. Separate the egg whites from the yolks, and whisk in the yolk to the flour mixture. The mixture will appear quite thick, do not feel like you have to whisk in all in thoroughly.

4. In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until foamy, and add a small amount first to the egg yolk/flour mixture and whisk vigourously with a whisk to break the flour/yolk lumpy mass. Fold in the rest of the whites with a spatula.

5. Add the lemon juice, zest, and butter. Whisk the batter until everything is incorporated and smooth.

6. Grease the madeleine molds with melted butter. Drop one tablespoon or so into the madeleine molds, depending on their size. Do not fill them to the rim though as they will rise and spill over the edge, looking very ugly.

7. Bake for 8 minutes or until golden brown. As soon as they come out of the oven, squirt the half lemon over the madeleines and let cool completely before proceeding with the glaze.