French Madeleines Recipe

This guide with the best madeleine recipe guarantees "humpy" homemade French madeleines that are perfect in shape, density, texture, and taste. Nothing beats these authentic madeleine cakes straight from the oven!

It is quite funny that many years ago, I did not even know what a French madeleine is.

Today, I can tell you that I have entirely perfected my madeleine baking skills and started to experiment with their flavors.

From time to time, I play with different recipes of these little tea cakes to get a higher bump on top. The highest madeleine I have ever made was 1.57 inches or 4 cm tall.

If you have ever wondered how to make the best French madeleines and make a success in making them, you are in the right place.

I am putting together all the tips and advices to guide you. Take notes before you get started and enjoy!

My favorite madeleine recipe is the one adapted from the cooking school of Alain Ducasse. It guarantees the perfectly shaped and fluffy authentic cakes.

Jump to:

• What are madeleines?
• History of French madeleines
• The madeleine of Proust
• Ingredients
• Madeleine baking and their famous bump
• Madeleine pan: silicone or metal?
• How to make madeleines without mold
• Filling madeleine pan
• Thermal shock
• Baking madeleines on the oven rack
• Temperature regimen while baking
• Madeleine variations
• How to serve madeleines
• How to make French madeleines
• Expert tips
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Love cakes? Try these next!
• Recipe
• Comments

What are madeleines?

Madeleines are small sponge cakes baked in a shell-like shaped mold. The bump on top of madeleines is a signature of the authentic French madeleine pastry.

There is much debate over whether madeleines are cookies or cakes. Although many think they are teacake cookies or "sponge cake-like French madeleine cookies," they are actually cakes.

And if we refer to the French, they consider madeleines small teatime cakes that are an essential part of their culture.

History of French madeleines

The origin of French madeleines remains quite mysterious. It goes back perhaps to the Middle Ages when one baked cakes in shells for the pilgrims of Saint-Jacques de Compostela.

But there is another story - the story of Commercy, which is the capital of madeleine. The cake was created in the kitchen of the King Stanislas during the reception in the Duchy of Lorraine in 1755.

It was following the resignation of the pastry chef the day before. The dessert was created by one of the servants named Madeleine Paulmier, who saved the situation.

The King was so delighted that he called the creator of the miracle. It was one of his maids...

The madeleine of Proust

“She sent for one of those short, plump cakes called Petites Madeleines that look like they were molded into the grooved valve of a scallop. And soon, mechanically, overwhelmed by the gloomy day and the prospect of a sad tomorrow, I brought to my lips a spoonful of the tea in which I had let a piece of madeleine soften. But the moment the mingled sip of the cake crumbs touched my palate, I flinched, aware of what was going on inside me. A delicious pleasure had invaded me, isolated, without the notion of its cause. 

This is a well-known passage from "In search of lost time, On the side of Swann's", where Marcel Proust rediscovers his childhood memories.

His simple sip of tea mixed with madeleine crumbs on Sunday mornings in Combray, at Aunt Léonie's, gave origin to the most famous metaphor - a “Proust madeleine” - and made the madeleine famous. 

Ingredients

Here is a comprehensive overview of what ingredients you will need. Follow the full madeleine recipe below for detailed amounts and instructions.

Rising agent

It is universal that the principal raising agent that gives the madeleine cakes their distinctive bump or hump is baking powder.

Most chefs such as chef Philippe, Philippe Contichini, Cédric Grolet add the baking powder that is 1/20 of the amount of flour used in a recipe.

David Lebovitz uses a bit less and even recommends to use baking powder optionally.

Butter

Butter is a madeleine recipe ingredient that is responsible for the texture of these small cakes.

According to food historians, the madeleines of Marcel Proust – who “cemented [madeleines] into French hearts and culture” - were quite dry.

To make these little cakes less moist, it is necessary to limit the butter, eggs, and sugar in a recipe.

The author of a popular nineteenth-century cook book, La Cuisinière de la campagne et de la ville Louis-Eustache Audot adds butter in a 1:2 weight ratio to flour. His madeleines indeed have a lighter, drier texture.

Nowadays, most French chefs use the same amount of butter and flour. Moreover, Philippe Conticini adds a small amount of neutral oil (such as grape seed oil) to his recipe. It means that modern madeleine pastry is richer, softer, and moister.

Historically, traditional madeleines of Commercy are made with brown butter ("beurre noisette" in French), which is when the butter is heated to get the brown color and the nutty flavor.

Roger Pizey, the author of the book "World Class Cakes 250 Classic Recipes from Boston Cream Pie to Madeleines and Muffins", and Belén from Belula Cusine & More suggest using brown butter in making these cakes.

Sugar

Sugar is another madeleines' recipe ingredient. While Louis-Eustache Audot, Roger Pizey, Pierre Hermé use caster sugar, Sebastien Rouxel goes for a mixture of caster and brown sugar.

Philippe Conticini often replaces caster sugar for light brown muscovado sugar that brings a toffee-like taste.

Sebastien Rouxel and Philippe Conticini also add honey to increase the moisture and flavor of the madeleines.

Milk

Most chefs use whole milk, but Philippe Conticini suggests to use semi-skimmed milk. According to the chef, semi-skimmed dairy contains 97% water, which brings additional moisture.

Flour

The authentic French madeleine recipe calls for a particular type of flour, flour T55, which is medium in protein content (9.4%) and contains 0.55% mineral content.

These characteristics assure the perfect fermentation and rising of the dough. However, all-purpose flour does the job very well, too.

Flavors

Classic French madeleines are made with citrusy additions. Pierre Hermé uses lemon zest, Roger Pizey adds orange zest, and Audot uses orange flower water and lemon zest.

Philippe Conticini varies the taste of his perfect madeleines by using the zest of fingered citron, or the Buddha's Hand, lime or lemon. Sebastien Rouxel suggests adding 1 to 2 drops of lemon oil.

In the traditional recipe, these little cakes can also be glazed with a sugar and lemon glaze.

How to make madeleines without the citrus note? The answer is simple; just use vanilla extract.

Madeleine baking and their famous bump

Like it or not, the perfect French madeleine is not a madeleine worthy of the name if it does not have its famous bump!

It is unknown if the madeleine's bump was as important in the 18th century - the time when the cake was born - as it is nowadays when "that dome has become the holy grail of madeleine bakers."

Finally, madeleine's bump is a sign of quality, because it is linked to well-controlled baking.

Madeleine pan: silicone or metal?

After multiple tests and trials with madeleine baking, I can conclude that the size, especially the depth of cavities of a madeleine mold is important.

Only deep cavities, instead of shallow ones, can guarantee the most beautiful bump on top of madeleines.

I find that most metal madeleine pans are too shallow to form the bump. That is why I use only silicone madeleine molds.

The one I use is not available in the market anymore, but after some research, I have found the best madeleine pan - a silicone madeleine mold - that closely resembles mine.

Another madeleine mold that is worth trying is Tefal madeleine pan that was approved by Valérie from C'est ma fournée.

However, many French chefs use a metal mold and obtain beautiful madeleines. So, it is worth testing your present madeleine mold, if you have one, and experiment with another one over time.

How to make madeleines without mold

If you do not have a special madeleine mold, you can try to make cakes in other forms.

For example, try a silicone muffin pan that works as a madeleine pan substitute. You can even line the wells with cupcake liners.

You can also try to bake these little cakes in small rectangular or even round molds. Surely, you will not get the perfect shell look and the bump on top, but you will be able to enjoy the taste of these delicious little cakes.

Historically, it is said that a woman with the name "Madelaine" baked small cakes and even used scallops as a mold, then offered them to pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela.

Filling madeleine pan

To give your madeleines a nice bump, the degree of filling of the madeleine mold must be correctly assessed. 

The result will vary depending on the shape, width, and depth of the cavities.

For example, narrow and deep indentations should only be ¾ filled. Conversely, if your mold consists of larger and higher cavities, you will need to fill them to the brim.

Still, the rule of thumb is to fill the cavities of a madeleine pan up to ¾ (no more!) that can guarantee a nice bump on top.

In general, a couple of test batches will allow you to evaluate your madeleine pan, and adapt its filling accordingly.

Pipe the batter with a pastry bag, as Sebastien Rouxel and Roger Pizey suggest, but it might be easier to spoon it. Just choose your way of filling the molds.

Thermal shock

This is the thermal shock that makes the bump! Bringing a cold madeleine pan filled with the cold batter to the hot oven can guarantee that the famous bump will form and never falls.

Ideally, make the batter and refrigerate overnight, or even better for 24 hours. David Lebovitz also recommends freezing the prepared madeleine mold before filling it with the batter.

If you are short on time, let rest the pan filled with the batter in the fridge for at least one to two hours to optimize the formation of the bump.

Baking madeleines on the oven rack

It is essential to remember that a silicone madeleine pan filled with batter must be placed on a baking rack and in the middle of the oven and not on a baking sheet.

Temperature regimen while baking

To form a beautiful bump on top of the madeleine cakes, lowering the oven temperature during baking is crucial!

French chef Philippe Conticini bakes madeleines in the oven preheated to 435 F/225 C for 6 minutes and then lowers the oven temperature to 355 F/180 C and bakes for another 5 to 6 minutes.

Pierre Herme’s version is a bit different. He bakes madeleines in the oven preheated to 425 F/220 C for 5 minutes, then lowers the oven temperature to 390 F/200 C and bakes them for 10 more minutes.

Now it's up to you to find the right way of baking. Each oven is different, so you must test and adjust the oven temperature to make your perfect madeleines.

I even suggest to check the oven temperature with an instant read oven thermometer before your madeleine baking.

Madeleine variations

Classic French madeleines are lemon madeleines flavored with only lemon zest, but they can be customized endlessly: with orange blossom water, vanilla extract, matcha, or chocolate.

If you want to experiment with the basic madeleine recipe and create your variations of madeleines, have a look at Flavor Twists on Classic French Madeleines on my blog.

Although the madeleine cake is a dessert, it is quite possible to modify the basic madeleine recipe to make savory madeleines. 

Made with Parmesan, bacon, pesto, or even tomatoes, they make perfect appetizers.  

If you ever travel to Paris, do not hesitate to include Blé Sucré on your list. It is a Parisian bakery with the most beautiful desserts, viennoiserie, and bread in Paris located at 7 rue Antoine Vollon, 75012, Paris.

According to David Lebovitz and Le Figaro, it is the place to try the best madeleines in the world.

But it is also whispered that the perfect madeleines are those of Philippe Contichini in his La pâtisserie des rêves, in Paris. 

How to serve madeleines

There is etiquette, a French ritual to eating these golden little tea cakes. Madeleines are best enjoyed with tea. 

Take an Earl Gray tea, a black tea flavored with bergamot. It will harmonize well with the lemon note of classic madeleines.

In order to appreciate their taste and to release their lemon flavor, madeleines have to be dipped in tea, the same way as Marcel Proust enjoyed little cakes. Unfortunately, coffee isn't the same.

How to make French madeleines

To make the batter, place eggs, granulated sugar, honey, and scraped seeds of half of the vanilla bean in a bowl (photo 1) and beat with a hand whisk (photo 2).

Sift flour and baking powder with a flour sifter, add to the mixture (photo 3), and combine with a whisk (photo 4).

Add melted butter (it has to be cooled till 120 F/50 C) and whisk again (photo 5). Zest half of a lemon with a zester grater, add to the main preparation and mix (photo 6). 

Cover the batter with a plastic film in contact and refrigerate over night, or even better for 24 hours. The plastic wrap must touch the batter, and not cover the bowl.

Preheat oven to 425 F/220 C. Butter the cavities of the madeleine mold: either it is a silicon one (it facilitates the removal of cakes), or it is a metal one.

If you use the latter one, dust it with flour and tap any excess. Using a pastry bag, fill the cavities up to ¾ (photo 7).

Bake at 425 F/220 C for 3 minutes. Then switch off the oven for 8 to 10 minutes. The madeleines will get that famous bump on top. Turn the oven to 320 F/160 C for the other 3 to 4 minutes.

Remove little cakes from the oven and cool in the mold for 5 minutes. Take them out one by one, simply pushing each cavity from the bottom.

Place cakes on the side, still in the mold (photo 8), so that they completely cool (do not use a wire rack to avoid its traces on the surface of madeleines).

Expert tips

1. Switch chestnut honey for any other kind of honey.
2. Replace vanilla seeds with ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract if you wish.
3. Do not overheat butter while melting. To avoid this, turn off the heat when half of the butter is melted and mix butter off the heat.
4. Replace lemon zest with orange or lime zest if you prefer.
5. Preheat the oven to 425 F/220 C and let it heat for 10 minutes. This step is necessary to get the bump of madeleines.
6. Leave the filled mold in the fridge while preheating/heating the oven.
7. Respect the temperature regimen while baking. The ideal temperature formula is 3 + 8 + 4, where 3 is 3 minutes of baking at 425 F/220 C, "8" is 8 minutes with the oven switched off, and "4" is 4 minutes of baking at 320 F/160 C. You might need to test your oven and adjust this formula, for example, as 3 + 7 + 3 or something different. Adjusting the last baking minutes is essential to prevent madeleines from burning.
8. Bake one batch of cakes (one mold) at a time. After each batch, clean the mold, then bake the rest. Keep the batter in the fridge between batches.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Recipe

The nutrition information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator and is intended for informational purposes only and should be used as a general guideline. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should independently verify it using your preferred tool. Please, read the disclaimers in our Privacy Policy.

The recipe was adapted from http://www.niksya.ru. It was originally published in February 2018. The recipe has been revised to include improved content and photos. All posted pictures are mine.