Quarantine days call for indulgent baking. These Chocolate-Coated Madeleines are everything you could ever wish in a baked treat: butter and pillowy goodness covered in a lush dark chocolate coating. Truly addictive.
Today’s recipe is one of my proudest baking achievements to this day. I have always absolutely loved madeleines, but I have always been intimidated by them. French cooking and baking usually have that effect on me: they always seem more delicate, more sophisticated than the Italian cuisine I grew up with. So I admire it, enjoy it and then stay away from it. And the same goes for madeleines.
I used to love the smooth, buttery madeleines we would buy at the local bakery when spending our summer holidays in Nice. Sometimes, if we were lucky, they would still be slightly warm. That citrusy flavour, only just a hint of it but yet so distinctive in madeleines, would just melt in my mouth. I can’t count how many I have had in my life, I just know it’s a lot.
When I moved to England I did not get the chance to go back to Nice for a while, but last year I went twice with my boyfriend and he too discovered how amazing madeleines are. We made these bomb breakfasts that could rival any hotel and always included freshly baked madeleines along with fresh fruit, yogurt, Nutella and all the trimmings. And when we came back, I missed them. Yes, some supermarkets have some types of madeleines, but freshly baked ones are a whole new level of deliciousness. So I started thinking I should give them a go, no matter how intimidating they might look.
As it turns out, though, madeleines are not that hard to bake. You will need to pay attention to the oven, because temperature and baking time play a crucial role. But that is actually easy enough, if proceeding methodically. The other only obstacle is that you need to have proper madeleines moulds to make them. They are usually made of silicone and they can be easily bought on Amazon. Personally, it’s an investment I highly recommend, as you will find yourself making these madeleines over and over again.
The secret to make perfect madeleines is the oven temperature. In order for them to develop that lovely, inviting bump, the batter needs to experience a sudden temperature drop. Working with temperature is key. For this reason, I preheated my oven to 200°C whilst preparing the batter. Then I chilled the batter in the fridge for a good 15 minutes. When removing it from the fridge, the batter is experience its first temperature drop. Whilst scooping the batter and transferring it into the madeleine mould, I decrese the oven temperature to 180°C and let the madeleines bake for about 5 minutes. At that point, I lower the temperature once again, this time to 160°C. These changes in temperature ensure that the madeleines will rise and puff, creating their characteristic bump. Overall they take between 13 and 15 minutes to bake.
The ingredients for this recipe are nothing unusual and you are likely to already have at home. Flour, sugar, eggs, baking powder, vanilla extract and the zest of a lemon. Traditional madeleines are just made of that. However, there are many variations, from cacao ones to pistachio-coated ones. I decided to keep things simple and dipped half of them in melted dark chocolate. And I am so glad I did! They were just amazing, the thin chocolate coating gently breaking in my mouth. The best. In this recipe I will write how much chocolate I used to coat 9 madeleines. If you want to coat them all, you will need to double the amount of chocolate.
Another ingredient you will need to be generous with is butter. The batter itself doesn’t have too much (a standard amount even for my harsh parameters), but it’s the butter in the moulds that will need a LOT of it. The more butter you grease each madeleine mould with, the smoother and pillowy the “shell-like” surface of the madeleines will be. And that is key to have delicious madeleines. I just kept greasing each mould with a thick layer of butter, until every bit of the surface has shiny, white coating. In the oven that butter coating will melt, making your madeleines melt in your mouth when you can finally eat them. And that is probably one of the best feelings in the world.
Ingredients:
Makes 18 madeleines
2 large eggs
150 gr granulated sugar
135 gr unsalted butter + more for greasing
150 gr plain flour
½ heaped tsp baking powder
¼ tsp vanilla extract
the zest of a lemon
40 gr dark chocolate (if you want to coat all of the madeleines, use 80)
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
In a large bowl, beat the sugar and the eggs together until fully combined. Melt the butter in the microwave and let it cool slightly. After a few minutes, add it to the bowl and mix well.
Now add the lemon zest, vanilla extract and baking powder. Mix well. Finally, add the flour, a couple of tablespoons at a time until it’s combined.
Transfer the batter to the fridge for about 15 minutes. In the meantime, butter each madeleine mould with a thick layer of butter.
When the 15 minutes are up, take the bowl out of the fridge and spoon the batter into the moulds. Fill them almost to the brim, just 2 or 3 millimetres under it. Lower the oven temperature to 180°C. Wait a minute or so and then transfer the madeleines into the oven.
Bake for about five minutes and then lower the temperature once again to 160°C. Bake for a further 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let them cool down for a few minutes.
In the meantime, fill a small saucepan with two or three glasses of water and cover with a heat proof bowl. Break the chocolate into rough chunks and transfer them to the bowl. Heat the saucepan on a hob on a medium heat and let the chocolate melt. Once it is almost fully melted, remove them the saucepan from the heat and mix the chocolate with a spoon until the chocolate sauce is smooth.
Take the madeleines off the moulds and dip half of it in the dark chocolate mixture. Place them on a cooling rack or a baking sheet and let the chocolate harden.
Enjoy!
These madeleines keep well for up to four days - P.S. They'll be gone by then!
Did you try this recipe? Have you got any questions? We would love to hear from you! Let us know by leaving a comment below! Xx
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