ELIZABETH DAVID’S MADELINES

Elizabeth David’s madeleines

“Madeleines are among the lightest and most beguiling of all French petits fours or small cakes. At one time they were made in a variety of sizes and in decorative moulds of different shapes. Nowadays, the name is mainly associated with the scallop shell characteristic, originally, of the madeleines of Commercy in Lorraine. These were the madeleines immortalised by Proust. Whatever small mould is used, the French madeleine mixture is extremely simple to cook. (French madeleines are not to be confused with the English coconut-decorated castle-pudding shaped cakes of the same name.)

To make 20-24 madeleines (the number will depend upon the dimensions of the moulds, which vary quite a bit) ingredients are 125g each of plain flour, butter and sugar; 2 eggs; a teaspoonful of baking powder; 2 of orange flower water or fresh lemon juice; the grated zest of half a lemon; a pinch of salt.

Have the oven turned on to 200C/gas mark 6.

Put the flour in a bowl. Sprinkle in the baking powder and and salt. Add the sugar and grated lemon rind. Separate the eggs. Stir the yolks into the flour mixture. Add the orange flower water or lemon juice.

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Put the butter in a small saucepan or bowl over very low heat until it has softened. Do not let it melt or oil. Keeping back a tablespoon or so for coating the moulds, stir the butter into the main mixture. With a pastry brush dipped in the reserved butter, paint the moulds. (These can be bought in sheets of six or twelve.) Now whisk the egg whites to a stiff snow. Amalgamate them swiftly with the cake batter.

Using a dessert spoon, put the mixture into the moulds. Each mould should be half filled, no more. This is the only difficult moment in the cooking of the madeleines – difficult because it is so hard to believe that the little spoonful of the mixture lying rather sadly in the mould will rise, swell and take on the beautiful shape and markings of the shell mould. At this moment faith is essential; should the moulds be overfilled, the mixture will spread sideways; the result will be a failure.

As soon as the moulds are filled, put them into the oven, on the centre shelf, and preferably on an iron baking sheet. In 14-15 minutes the madeleines should be cooked.

While they are baking, butter and fill a second sheet of moulds with the rest of the mixture. If you have only one sheet, you have to wait until the first batch is cooked. For the cook this slows up the proceedings, but the short wait does not affect the mixture.

When, after the prescribed 14 minutes, you see that the cakes have risen and are a very pale gold, remove from the oven. Let them rest for just a few seconds before turning them out – using a small palette knife – on to a cooling rack. The underside of the madeleines should be a delicate golden sand colour. As soon as they are cool they are ready to eat, and at their best. They can, however, be reheated, extremely gently and for a few minutes only.