Break out the mads, boys!

I thought that I had already made this post, but when I saw on my blog after my earlier post that it wasn't here, I thought to correct the deficiency immediately.

I would have never thought that I would have made something French before my brother did -- and certainly not something like madeleines (for those who don't speak French, it's pronounced "mad-a-lanes"). But it seemed like the surprise I had planned for my brother turned out to surprise me as well. I thought it would be a great idea if I would surprise my brother on Easter Sunday with some fresh madeleines from my oven. He was coming clear across the country to visit me, and he has always loved everything French, especially since his mission in Paris. He has even been back a couple of times. And I knew how much he enjoys a very simple breakfast in the European fashion. So I decided to surprise him. And this is how they turned out. Not bad for my first attempt, even if I do say so myself!

With the consistency of spongy pound cake, madeleines are surprising easy to make. And because they are small like a cookie, they bake very quickly. There are lots of mad recipes around. I used one that I found online that supposedly comes from France (wow, what a surprise). Here is the recipe:

Madeleines au Citron

2 large eggs
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teasppon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit. Prepare pan with non-stick cooking spray or by heavily brushing softened butter into each molds with a pastry brush, taking care to butter every ridge, and then dusting the molds with flour and tilting the pan to coat the surfaces evenly and remove any excess.

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, granulated sugar, and salt. Using a wire whisk or a handheld mixer on medium-high speed, beat vigorously until pale, thick, and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the almond and vanilla extracts and lemon juice. Sprkinle the sifted flour over the egg mixture and stir or beat on low speed to incorporate.

Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the lemon zest and half of the melted butter just until blended. Fold in the remaining butter.

Divide the batter among the 12 prepared molds, using a heaping teaspoon of batter for each mold. Bake the madeleines until the tops spring back with lightly touched, 8-12 minutes. Makes 12.

The distictive seashell shape comes from the special pan used to bake them. You can tell they are done when the edges brown and the puffy center springs back upon touch. When filling the molds, I learned that it is okay for the batter to fill the mold entirely, coming flush with the top of the pan. Minus the special pan, I am sure that this recipe would work well for mini muffins. I also recommend using an electric mixer, as the hand method will take considerably longer and requires a little bit of skill to achieve the same effect. With the mixer, I can have these in my mouth in 25 minutes. Per my usual habit with any recipe, I omitted the salt. I figure I get enough of that from what I already eat.

My brother was so impressed with my effort to make him this very common Frech teacake that later that evening he asked if he could make more for his plane ride the following morning. I of course consented. It was then I learned that he had never before made mads, and so I was surprised that I had made something French before he had. He used my recipe, only he added the lemon juice, which I had not used for my first batch. In his generosity he left some for me in a plastic sandwich bag. When I got back the next morning from having taken him and his wife to the airport, I found the bag sprawled out on the kitchen counter with little nibbles in the bag and on the mads inside. Tashi! I swear that cat has food on the brain!

Recently I went out of town to attend the funeral for Uncle Darrel (details in my previous post). Tashi could not come with me, so I asked my good friend Kim to feed her for me and also to play with her if she wanted. Kim was very good to Tashi, and so as a thank-you gesture I decided to make her some madeleines. Here is how this batch turned out. I know it looks like Tashi got to some of these as well, but truthfully I didn't quite use enough cooking spray on the pan, and so the mads somewhat stuck to my so-called non-stick pan. For some reason that escapes me, these also seemed to cook a little faster. That's not a complaint -- I like crispy -- just an observation of the experience. Whatever the reason, I am totally in love with mads. I'm sure to be making more of these in the future and drinking them with some dark chocolate cocoa. Mmmm mmmm good!