Madeleines Are The New Cupcake

I can’t believe I’ve only just discovered Madeleines! Everything about them just seems so much more suited to children than a cup cake.

They are so simple and quick to make. The shape and size is perfect for little hands and tummy’s/ You can add all kinds of lovely flavours to them just like cupcakes and with a bit of imagination you can jazz them up into perfect little kiddy treats.

Oh … and they also make a rather sophisticated adult nibble as well!

To make them you need …
Madeleine Baking tray(s)
140g/5oz butter
140g/5oz caster  Sugar
3 medium eggs
1 medium egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla essence
140g/5oz plain flour
1 tsp baking powder

Pre heat oven to 190°C/375F/Gas Mark 5 (adjust to suit your ovens. I have to drop mine to 150°C)

1. Melt the butter gently in a saucepan and leave to cool.

2. Whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla essence in a bowl until it becomes a pale, thick & foamy. It looks very similar to meringue mixture when ready.

3. Sieve the flour and baking sugar into the egg and sugar mixture and fold in carefully with a metal spoon to keep all the lovely air that was trapped inside when it was mixed.

4. Carefully pour in the butter a little at a time, also folding in with a metal spoon.

5. Grease the madeleine trays using the remains of the melted butter and spoon in the mixture. Bake for 5-10 minutes depending on your oven. It’s worth doing a test bake as my oven needs to be dropped as low 160C.

6. Bake until a lovely pale golden colour. Remove from the oven and carefully place the madeleine on a wire rack to cool.

Now you can eat them just like this, give them a light dusting of icing sugar or dip the ends in melted chocolate.

If you’re feeling very adventurous you can have some fun with candy melts and sprinkles which go down really well with the kids!