Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Tuesdays with Dorie - Mad about Madeline and Madeleines


Today´s recipe for the Tuesdays with Dorie group are Madeleines. The recipe for these famous pretty French sponge cakes was contributed by baker extraordinaire Flo Braker.




The Madeleines come in a palette of flavors, ranging from the traditional lemon zest to rose or even orange flower water, vanilla, chocolate, green tea (with Matcha), and, honey. There are even some savory versions containing fresh herbs such as thyme or rosemary or even finely grated cheese such as Parmigiano Reggiano.




The sign of a fine Madeleine is a little hump, created by leaving the batter to chill and stiffen for at least two hours, and by baking in a hot oven. The batter has a tendency to stick to the traditional shell-shaped metal molds, so you should also remember to butter your molds twice. The cakes also turn out fine in nonstick silicone molds, but they will never color to a crisp golden brown.




For a Proustian moment, savor your Madeleines as he did with a cup of tisane. Although “tisane” refers to herbal teas in general, it is believed that he quite enjoyed dunking his French sponge cakes into a cup of linden blossom tea (infusion de tilleul).




In order to make delicious Madeleines, you will have make a classic sponge cake or génoise using unsalted butter, cake flour, some salt, eggs and pure vanilla extract. And in order to obtain their traditional shape, you will need the above-mentioned traditional Madeleine baking pans. I have regular Madeleine molds and mini Madeleine molds - the mini ones bake in about 5 minutes.




To bake these small French tea cakes, you spoon the batter into the molds, filling them almost to the rim and bake the Madeleines until they are puffed, golden brown, and just starting to pull from the sides of the molds, about 8 to 10 minutes. Note that the peaked centers will be lighter than the rest of the cakes. Turn them out on a rack to cool. They are best eaten warm from the oven, though they may be stored in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days.




And while enjoying your Madeleines with a steaming cup of linden blossom tea, why not read the delightful book Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans, it does not always have be In Search of Lost Time (À la recherche du temps perdu), by the famous French author Marcel Proust.

To see how the other Doristas fared with this recipe, please do click here.

The recipe can be found at Katie and Amy´s blog - Counter Dog - "Thank you both for hosting today´s recipe"!




Sources:

  • "Madeline" by Ludwig Bemelmans available at www.amazon.com
  • Madeleine mini baking mold and regular size one from "Gobel" available at www.gobel.fr
  • Linden blossom tea (Lindenblütentee) from "TeaGschwender" available at www.teegschwender.com 






46 comments:

  1. Beautiful! They look perfect and you pair it with one of my favorite books. Very nice job.

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    1. Thank you, my kids love this book and Madeleines. So why not enjoy Madeline and Madeleines at the same time I thought.

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  2. I loved that book. Your madeleines are perfect looking and the mini ones so dainty. Beautifully done Andrea.

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    1. Thank you, Cathleen - big ones, mini ones, we seem to love all Madeleines because they are a nice change from all those overly sweet treats and they are so nice dunked in tea which we also love.

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  3. Oh what a beautiful post! Don't you just love both the cookie and the book? I know that I certainly do! We had the very best madeleines while in Paris. They melted in my mouth. Thank you for sharing, sweet friend!

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    1. Monet, thanks so much, now that you mentioned it, I think will buy some Madeleines while in Paris next month and see for myself how they compare. These are fun and easy little afternoon treats that the whole family really loves.

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  4. We need to get a madeleine pan... They look so good and fluffy!!!

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    1. Thank you so much - you should get one of those madeleine pans because these little sponge cakes are just so very easy to bake. You can even leave the dough in the fridge for a few hours before guests arrive and just bake them quickly after dinner/lunch and serve while warm.

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  5. Oh wow you actually have the Madeline book? I love the books and cartoon series, and your madeleines (in 2 straight lines) look very pretty. As always I like your photography and presentation!

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    1. Yes, since I have four girls myself who are all quite fond of this book, I just could not help myself but incorpoarte this into my post. And, most importantly, the girls had fun with it too.

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  6. I love the book Madeline…I used to read it to my daughter when she was young, and then to my granddaughter.
    Andrea, Your Madeleines look gorgeous! So are your photos!! Lovely post!!

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    1. Kathy, this is such a cute book, who could possibly resist its charm or eating freh Madeleines while reading it with/to the kids?!

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  7. Beautiful job. I loved reading the book Madeline to my girls. Your presentation was beautiful.

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    1. Geraldine, thank you kindly for your nice comment - charming book isn´t it?!

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  8. A great blog post! I enjoyed every word ... and your Madeleines look delightful -- all of them! Blessings, Catherine www.praycookblog.com

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    1. Thanks, Catherine, I enjoyed every minute of putting this post together.

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  9. We loved the Madeleline books growing up! In fact, my youngest sister was named Madeleine when my parents ran out of girls' names with their 4th daughter :) Your madeleines are perfect, Andrea!!

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    1. Liz, what a nice name for your youngets sisiter - actually while I put together this post, it occurred to me that I do not know anyone personally whose name is "Madeline".

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  10. Such a cute post! I am envisioning a great kids party idea here :) Linden tea is one of my favorite.

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    1. Yes, a birthday party with a Madeline theme would be nice indeed....two of my girls celebrate their birthday in the lovely month of May, maybe I should convince the younger one who will turn five to choose Madeline as her theme.

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  11. Such a fun post. Your madeleines are beautiful, Andrea! I love your photos with the Madeline book. :)

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    1. Elaine, thanks so much, I am glad that you liked the post because I enjoyed putting it together and the girls were smiling along, sometimes blogging is just plain fun.

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  12. They turned out perfect, and love how you styled the whole post with the book. So cute Andrea! Thanks for the comments you left me; things are slowly improving here. Have a great week!

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    1. Paula, so good to hear that the situation is improving around you - water can certainly cause a lot of damage. And thanks for the nice compliment!

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  13. This post certainly made me smile. What a delightful presentation of the twelve madeleines in a row just like the little girls in the book. The madeleines actually remind me of the yellow hats with girls are wearing.

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    1. Karen, thank you for the nice comment - this was a fun and light-hearted post but we are serious about liking Madeline and Madeleines. I have been baking madeleines forever and tried out many wonderful recipes - I like the fact that they come together in no time which is really convenient once in a while.

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  14. Great minds must think alike! I was planning on making Madelines today!!yours look simply delicious -
    Mary x

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    1. Mary, if you get a chance to bake madeleines today, please do let me know which recipe you use and /or which is your favorite tasty addition to these dainty little treats, lemon zest or rose water, ground almonds or just plain. A different perspective is always good and I would appreciate yours.

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  15. This is such an adorable post - I love it! And your madeleines are so adorable too! Lovely job, Andrea!

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    1. Sara, thank you for the nice commet. I am glad that you enjoyed this post!

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  16. What beautiful Madeleines! They are the teacakes with the most character of all. And Flo Breaker, well isn't she just magnificent? I have used her books for years. Much of the baker I am today I owe to her. I am so glad to see you are a fan too. Your photos aren wonderful, and seeing the Madeline book brought back so many memories. Brava!

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    1. Mille grazie per il complimento, Adri! Flo Braker is indeed an outstanding personality and such a gifted baker and I also admire her skills!

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  17. Andrea, you really know how to take dreamy delicious pictures of your baked goods! I'm completely mesmerized by them. I love madeleine and I need to buy the madeleine pans!

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    1. Nami, you know how they always say "you should get this and that and the other thing" but there is no way in this world that we can actually follow all this well meant advice. But madeleine pans are nice to own because madeleines must be some of the easiest mini sponge cakes of all times to bake and they look so very pretty. And the kids adore them, which is always important!

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  18. I love how you posed the madeleines with a Madeline book. My girls used to love it when I read them the Madeline stories!

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    1. Beth, thank you for the comment - cute children´s book isn´t it. My girls are quite fond of it too.

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  19. Andrea, your posts are always so fun and thoughtful. I have so many pans but for some reason no Madeline pan?? Looks like I better go shopping! These look like to much fun not to make.

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    1. Cindy, those madeleine pans can be very handy baking pans to have around since the little cakes are a breeze to make and taste delicious.

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  20. Nice job of combining those lovely images from Madeline with your own lovely images of the madeleines you made.

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    1. Thank you very much - this post was a lot of fun putting together and I thought pairing the cute story of Madeline with the madeleines would be nice.

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  21. A lovely pairing - Madeline and Madeleines.
    Beautiful :-)

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    1. Thank you very much, Cher - Madeline and madeleines, just seemed like a natuaral pairing.

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  22. Seeing the photos from the madeleine book brought back such fond memories. Thank you for including them!

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    1. Thanks, Jora, this was a nice post to put together and I am glad that you enjoyed it!

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