August has been a busy month with both highs and lows, and as a result, I haven’t been very active online (although I did start a TikTok last week – I’m @bookbakeblog on there). I also have done very little baking over the past month, apart from a birthday cake for my boyfriend, but today I got the urge again, and I made these sweet little lemon madeleines!
Madeleines are very delicate little cakes that require you to whip up stiff egg whites to create a light and airy batter. I’ve made madeleines before, but this time I decided to add some lemon. Partly because I still had a lemon lying around, but also because I just really love lemon cake. The lemon in these madeleines is deliberately subtle since I didn’t want to take away from the delicate sweetness.
This recipe makes about 20 small madeleines, but you can easily double the recipe if you want to make more. If you don’t want to go out and buy a madeleine cake tin or silicone mold, you can also use a mini muffin tin – you won’t get the distinctive madeleine shell, but you’ll still have a nice little cake.
Let’s move on to the recipe!
You’ll need… (for 20 madeleines)
- 2 eggs (medium)
- a pinch of salt
- 60 g butter
- 80 g sugar
- 80 g plain flour
- zest of one lemon
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- a madeleine tin/mold (or mini muffin tin/mold)
- small saucepan
- electric whisk or stand mixer (for the egg whites)
- optional: piping bag (you can also just use two small spoons)
- and an oven, of course! These madeleines need to be baked at 180 °C (don’t forget to preheat your oven!)
So, let’s get baking!
1. Whip up egg whites The first step of this recipe is to separate the eggs. Put aside the egg yolks in a big bowl – you’re going to need those in a bit. Take the egg whites and put them in a large metal bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer. Before you do this, make sure it’s completely grease-free. To make it grease-free, you can wipe it down with a bit of vinegar or lemon juice. Add a small pinch of salt to the egg whites and then whip them up until they’re completely stiff. That means that if you take out your whisk, the egg whites will have stiff peaks. Put the bowl to the side for now.
2. Melt the butter Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Make sure you keep an eye on the butter so it doesn’t burn, and swirl it around a few times. Take the butter off the stove once it’s melted completely and let it cool down for just a little bit (so the hot butter doesn’t scramble the egg yolks in step 4).
3. Mix egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice Meanwhile, mix the sugar through the egg yolks using a whisk. Also add the lemon zest and juice.
4. Add butter Once it’s cooled down enough, add the butter to the egg yolk mixture and mix it through.
5. Add egg whites and flour Using a spatula, add a bit of the egg whites and some of the flour (make sure you’ve sieved the flour!). Gently fold this through the mixture to loosen it and then add more of both the egg whites and the flour and fold it through again. Then, add the last bit of the egg whites and flour and do the same again. Make sure you carefully fold everything through so as not to beat out the air.
6. Bake! Grease your madeleine mold or tin. Transfer your batter to a piping bag and pipe it into the madeleine mold (or transfer the batter into the mold using spoons). Next, place the mold/tin in your preheated oven and bake the madeleines for about 12 minutes. Don’t bake them for too long or they will end up tough and dry. You know they’re done when they’ve become a nice golden brown around the edges. Let them cool for a few minutes and then start eating them right away because yum. They taste really good while they’re still warm, but you can also let them cool down completely and then store them in an airtight container for a few days.
And that’s it! You’ve got your own lemon madeleines – enjoy!
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These look delicious!