Madeline's for my favorite Madeline

Our good friends have two little ones who are near and dear to us. They are our East Coast nieces. We recently had the oldest of the two for her first sleep-over. We all had a wonderful time, playing, watching cartoons, painting, coloring, swinging on the swings at the park, you name it.

A while back I had told Madeline how she had a very special cookie named after her. So I had promised her when she was ready to spend the night at our house we would make them together. Little did I know that sleep-over would be scheduled for 4 weeks later and I had to scramble to find a Madeline pan - Thank you Amazon!

I researched for a while about what recipe I should make for the Madeline's and consensus around the web was that there was no better recipe than Dave Lebovitz's lemon glazed Madeline recipe.

So when Madeline came over, we made her namesake cookie. And boy were they delicious. We had a great time baking together - she zested her first lemon and tried the zest, she measured out her ingredients and dumped them in the mixer and did it all with poise and perfection! Such a great baker helper!

However, Auntie didn't read the recipe all the way through and neglected to notice how the batter had to chill for an hour. So it was a mad dash after our spaghetti dinner to get the batter in the pan and baking so she could at least try one of her namesake cookies before bedtime with a glass of milk.

These are probably the most perfect Madeline I've ever had! Light, fluffy, moist, soft and a great lemon flavor. I admit I did not bother with the glaze because, well, I had an anxious 4 year old at my heels asking for cookies - but next time I will make the glaze for them. I have a couple of tangerines hanging around the house currently and may have to do a tangerine Madeline next!

Everyone on the web, thank you - the recipe was foolproof and garnered great results!

I did read a tip - and I wish I could remember where now on what blog, that said to butter the pan instead of spray it - it will give you better results - and that it did - I did it both ways as well and the buttered ones were far superior to the PAM ones. And the buttering of a Madeline pan is the most perfect job for the fingers of a little 4 year old!!

Enjoy!

David Lebovitz's Lemon Glazed Madelines

3 large eggs, at room temperature
2/3 cup (130g) granulated sugar
rounded 1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup (175g) flour
1 teaspoon baking powder (optional)
zest of one small lemon
9 tablespoons (120g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature, plus additional melted butter for preparing the molds

This is the recipe for the glaze, again I omitted this part this first time - a nice dusting of powdered sugar would have been nice too though!

3/4 cup (150g) powdered sugar
1 tablespoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons water

1. Brush the indentations of a madeleine mold with melted butter. Dust with flour, tap off any excess, and place in the fridge or freezer.

2. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, whip the eggs, granulated sugar, and salt for 5 minutes until frothy and thickened.

3. Spoon the flour and baking powder, if using, into a sifter or mesh strainer and use a spatula to fold in the flour as you sift it over the batter. (Rest the bowl on a damp towel to help steady it for you.)

4. Add the lemon zest to the cooled butter, then dribble the butter into the batter, a few spoonfuls at a time, while simultaneously folding to incorporate the butter. Fold just until all the butter is incorporated.

5. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (Batter can be chilled for up to 12 hours.)

6. To bake the madeleines, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

8. Plop enough batter in the center of each indentation with enough batter which you think will fill it by 3/4′s (you’ll have to eyeball it, but it’s not brain-surgery so don’t worry if you’re not exact.) Do not spread it.

10. Bake for 8-9 minutes or until the cakes just feel set. While the cakes are baking, make a glaze in a small mixing bowl by stirring together the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and water until smooth.

11. Remove from the oven and tilt the madeleines out onto a cooling rack. The moment they’re cool enough to handle, dip each cake in the glaze, turning them over to make sure both sides are coated and scrape off any excess with a dull knife. After dipping, rest each one back on the cooking rack, scalloped side up, until the cakes are cool and the glaze has firmed up.