llack-and-White

larbled Madeleines
"HE FRENCH ARE MASTERS AT knowing how to take a good idea and
spin it into another good ideaand another. These days they're playground with madeleines. While the shell-shaped pastries are classically
ored with lemon (page 212) or vanilla, today a madeleine's batter might
ude green tea or Earl Grey, raspberry or rose, herbs or exotic spices. I
[ofthese marbled tea cakes as straddlers, the placeholders between tra,iand treats that go out on a limb. This batter is flavored with vanilla and
X-so-classic lime zest, then half of it is mixed with melted milk chocolate
: with the lime) and cocoa powder (great for color). With the chocolate
ding them a bit, the madeleines don't develop the hefty bump that
tir plainer relatives do. Nonetheless, their look is enchanting, their flavors
sand, because of the marbling, each bite is different, a playfulness that's
'ays welcome in a dessert.
These defy the golden rule of the madeleine: They don't have to be eaten
ostas soon as they're made; they even taste great a day later.
2/3 cup (90 grams) all-purpose

3/t

flour

'/2 cup (100 grams) sugar

Finely grated zest of i lime
2 large eggs, at room
temperature

they're made, these are also

good, if a bit denser, the
next day.
STORING: The madeleine
batter can be spooned into
the molds, marbled and
kept refrigerated for up to
1 day; cover the batter when
it firms. If you're keeping
the madeleines overnight,

2 months and brought to

room temperature before

cooled
n/2

be served moments out of

the oven, just warm or at
room temperature. While
they're perfect the day

can also be wrapped

airtight, frozen for up to

unsalted butter, melted and

Pinch of fine sea salt

SERVING: Madeleines can

pack them in a covered

container. The tea cakes

stick (6 tablespoons;
3 ounces; 85 grams)

1 teaspoon baking powder

Makes 12 mac/e/eines

serving. Madeleines that

have been frozen benefit
from a quick warm-up in a
35O-degree-F oven.

teaspoon pure vanilla extract

i tablespoon unsweetened
cocoa powder
i ounce (28 grams) best-quality
milk chocolate, melted and
still fluid

Utter the molds of a i2-shell madeleine pan, dust with flour and tap out the
> (or use baker's spray, a mix of vegetable oil and flour). Do this even
ifyour pan is silicone or nonstick. Put the pan in the refrigerator while you
; the batter.
Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl.
Put the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, or put it in a large bowl and
irk with a hand mixer. Add the lime zest and use your fingertips to rub the
land sugar together until the sugar is moist and fragrant. If using a stand
ixer, fit it with the paddle and attach the bowl. Add the eggs to the bowl and
Mediately begin mixing at medium speed. (If you let the eggs and sugar
:,the sugar will "cook" the yolks and they'll develop a film.) Mix for 2 to

BABY

CAKES

AND

PETITE

PASTRIES

215

3 minutes, or until the mixture is pale and thick. Add the dry ingredients and,
using a flexible spatula, stir and fold gently until the flour disappears into the
batter. Add the butter in 3 additions, folding each one into the batter with a
light touch. Pour half of the batter into another bowl.
Stir the vanilla extract into one half of the batter. Place a small sieve over :
the other bowl, drop in the cocoa and shake it over the batter. Then pour the
melted chocolate into the bowl and gently stir and fold everything together
with a flexible spatula until well blended.
Divide the vanilla batter evenly among the molds. Top with the chocolate
batter. If you'd like, you can leave the madeleines like this and they'll bake
with a dark bull's-eyethe chocolate batter doesn't budge much. For marbled madeleines, my preference, take a table knife and swirl it through the
batters. Don't overdo it2 or 3 squiggles are enough to get a little marbling.
Refrigerate the filled pan for at least i hour. (The batter can be refiigeratti
for as long as overnight. Once the batter is firm, cover lightly with plastic film]
WHEN YOU'RE READY TO BAKE: Center a rack in the oven, put a large
heavy baking sheet on the rack and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Place the madeleine pan on the hot baking sheet and bake for 13 to
15 minutes, or until the madeleines are puffed, golden brown and springy
to the touch. If you poke the shells at the edges, they'll pull away from the
pan. Remove the pan from the oven and rap the edge of the pan against the
counterthe madeleines should come tumbling out. Gently pry any recalcitrant cakes from their shells with a table knife or your fingers. If not serving
immediately, transfer to a cooling rack.

216

BAKING

CHEZ

MOI