Black-And-White Marbled Madeleines

It's Tuesdays With Dorie week, the two bakes for this month are Pithiviers and Black-And-White Marbled Madeleines. I've chosen to make the madeleines for this week. 

Easy to make and delightful to eat. Before making the batter, chill the greased madeleine moulds in the fridge until needed. Once the batter is made, spoon into the cooled madeleines moulds, then keep refrigerated for at least an hour before baking. Some minor changes I've made was to use orange zest instead of lime zest, and I've reduced the sugar to only 1/4 cup (since the yield is only for 12 madeleines).  The chocolate batter is very thick and did not budge much when I made the marble swirl with a small knife. I made ten madeleines with swirls and left the other five un-swirled as what Dorie says, "they'll bake with a dark bull's eye".

I baked the madeleines for 13 minutes, though I think they could have done baking at 11 minutes or so, as mine has some cracks at the top, maybe I over baked them a little, even at 13 minutes. And instead of 12, I got 15 madeleines. They pop out of the moulds very easily. 

According to Dorie, "with the chocolate grounding them a bit, the madeleines don't develop the hefty bump that their plainer relatives do", but mine has high bumps!

These madeleines are kinda addictive when eaten while still warm, minutes right after baking, with a cup of warm tea. I love the light crisp crust all around and spongy crumbs inside, with bites of the two different flavours, vanilla and chocolate. Makes a lovely yummy tea time treat! 

Stop by Tuesdays With Dorie to see what the other bakers bake for this week.

I'm sharing this post with Cookbook Countdown #15 hosted by Kitchen Flavours and Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray

Lemon Madeleines : TWD

This week, at Tuesdays With Dorie (TWD), we are baking Lemon Madeleines from Dorie's latest book, "Baking Chez Moi". 

I love eating madeleines, cute shell-shaped little cakes, so good with a cup of warm tea, or just as a snack anytime of the day. 

To make these lovely madeleines, the batter is first prepared and refrigerated for at least an hour, or can be refrigerated for up to 2 days, which was what I did. I made the batter, left it in the refrigerator overnight, and the next day, I did not have time to bake these as I was out of the house (unplanned!). So I baked these on the next day after that for tea-time, and they were yummy!

According to the recipe, an hour before baking time, the greased madeleine moulds are filled with the cold batter, refrigerate again, for one hour more, than bake by placing the moulds on a heavy baking tray that was preheated in the oven first. That way, the madeleines would have really high bumps.

What I did was to refrigerate the madeleine moulds in the fridge at the same time when the batter goes into the refrigerator, so the madeleine moulds have been sitting in the fridge for two days. Just before baking, I greased the moulds, spoon the cold batter into it, did not refrigerate the moulds, and proceed with the baking.

Note : the recipe yields exactly 20 standard-sized madeleines instead of 12 as indicated in the recipe. I wonder how many madeleines the other bakers at TWD got!

These madeleines bakes up really nice, golden and puffy with....

..... a bumpy belly! 

These madeleines are delicious! They are light, moist, soft, buttery with the fragrance from the lemon zest. A delightful tea-time treat. And yes, I would make this again.

I'm linking this post with Tuesdays With Dorie (TWD) 

and

Cook-Your-Books #21 @ kitchen flavours

Lemony Madeleines

I've bought a few baking books from the recent BBW sale, two of those are, John Barricelli's, "The Seasonal Baker" and "The Sono Baking Company Cookbook". These are beautiful cookbooks, and of course, as soon as I've browsed thru them, many recipes are bookmarked! So for a start, I've decided to make these easy madeleines from "The Seasonal Baker".

According to the author, these French little cakes are traditionally made with melted butter, and must be eaten the day they are baked or they lose their airy softness. So to make it practical for the home kitchens, his recipe is a mixture of melted butter and oil, to extend their shelf life to a couple of days.

Just like most other madeleines, the batter is refrigerated for at least 2 hours before baking. I have reduced the amount of sugar to 1/4 cup (original is 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons), which turns out just right.

These madeleines are soft and lemony. Perfect as an afternoon treat with a cup of warm tea. Best eaten, especially warm, fresh from the oven!

Lemony Madeleines
(adapted from "The Seasonal Baker", John Barricelli)
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar (I use 1/4 cup)
2/3 cup cake flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the pan
2 teaspoons lemon extract
grated zest of 1 lemon
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1/8 teaspoon coarse salt (omit this, use salted butter)

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, and baking powder ; set aside. In a small bowl, combine the oil, melted butter, lemon extract, and lemon zest; set aside.
2. In another medium bowl, whisk the 2 whole eggs plus the egg yolk with the salt until frothy. Whisk in the sugar-and-flour mixture until the dry ingredients are combined and the batter is smooth. Fold in the oil-and-butter mixture with the whisk. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
3. Set a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350F. Brush a 12-mold madeleine pan well with melted butter or spray with nonstick spray. Dust the molds with flour and tap out the excess.
4. Fill the molds about two-thirds full, about 1 tablespoon in a standard mold; do not overfill. Bake until golden brown and rise, 14 to 16 minutes, rotating the pan two-thirds of the way through the baking time.
5. Immediately invert the madeleines onto a wire rack and let cool completely. Let the mold cool completely. Then butter and flour 8 of the molds, fill with the remaining batter, bake, and cool.

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I'm linking this post to :

Little Thumbs Up, ingredient for this month is Lemons, an event organized by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids and Doreen of My Little Favourite D.I.Y. and hosted by Grace of Life Can Be Simple.

Cook-Your-Books #9 hosted by Kitchen Flavours

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Upcoming Event !!!

Cook Like A Star will be entering it's third year this March! How time flies! To celebrate Cook Like A Star's 2nd anniversary, for the months of March and April, Cook Like A Star is having an All Star Anniversary Party! Isn't this exciting? We have the choice to cook or bake from any of the previous featured chefs recipes, and they are :

Ina Garten

Jamie Oliver

Nigella Lawson

Curtis Stone

Ree Drummond

Bill Granger

Masterchefs

Martha Steward

Delia Smith

Donna Hay

The hosts for All-Stars Anniversary Party are, Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids, Mich of Piece of Cake and Joyce of Kitchen Flavours

Everyone is welcome to join us, cook or bake from any of the above chefs' recipes and link your posts to the linky which will be provided at the hosts' page. Your post must be current. Feel free to use the above logo in your blog post. Please mention the following :

I'm linking this post to Cook Like A Star, All-Stars Anniversary Party, hosted by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids, Mich of Piece of Cake and Joyce of Kitchen Flavours.

See you at the Party!

From 1st March to 30th April!

Lavender Madeleines

Made these Lavender Madeleines a couple of weeks ago. Recently I've bought some madeleine pans from Daiso. I've been wanting to buy madeleine pans for ages, and when I've read from Emily's post that she bought it from Daiso, I made a trip to Daiso and came home happy with four pans, among other things!

Wasted no time in selecting a recipe from my many cookbooks! Since I have some dried Lavender flowers, I chose to make these lovely Lavender Madeleines from Dorie Greenspan's "Baking From My Home To Yours".

The lavender is soaked in melted hot butter for about 15 minutes to infuse the flavour, strain, and the lavender are discarded, what you get is really fragrant melted butter.

These Lavender Madeleines are a delight to eat. They are soft, moist and very fragrant from the lavender. Perfect with a cup of warm tea. I really enjoyed these little cakes.

Looking forward to more of madeleines baking!

Lavender Madeleines
(adapted from "Baking From My Home To Yours", Dorie Greenspan)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon edible lavender
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1/3 cup sugar (I use 1/4 cup)
grated zest of 1/2 lemon
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

To flavor the butter with the lavender, melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat or in a microwave oven. Stir in the lavender and allow it to infuse for 15 minutes. (I left the lavender to infuse for about 45 minutes, unintentionally).
Line a small sieve with a double layer of damp cheesecloth, then strain the butter into a small bowl; discard the lavender. (I strain the butter using a small sieve without any cheesecloth, pressing the lavender to release more buttery lavender flavour).

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or in another large bowl and, using your fingertips, work the zest into the sugar until the mixture is fragrant.
Working with a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and zest together until pale and thick, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the honey and vanilla and beat for 1 minute more. Switch to a rubber spatula and gently fold in the dry ingredients. When they are incorporated, fold in the butter. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the batter and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or for up to 2 days. This long chill will help the batter form the hump that is characteristic of madeleines. (For convenience, you can spoon the batter into the madeleine molds, cover and and chill, then bake the cookies directly from the fridge; see below for instructions on prepping the pans).

Getting Ready To Bake :
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter 12 full-size madeleine molds, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. Or, if you have a nonstick madeleine pan, give it a light coating of vegetable cooking spray. If you have a silicone pan, there is no prep needed. Place the pan on a baking sheet.
Spoon the batter into the molds - don't worry about leveling the batter, the oven's heat will take care of that.
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until the madeleines are golden and tops spring back when touched. Remove the pan from the oven and release the madeleines from the mold by rapping the edge of the pan against the counter. Gently pry any recalcitrant madeleines from the pan using your fingers or a butter knife.
Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool to just warm or to room temperature.

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