Madeleines are delicious little cakes, recognizable from their distinctive shell shape. Lots of flavour variations are possible, but I’m partial to the classic lemon version below. Though the recipe and preparation are simple enough, one distinguishing and sometimes elusive characteristic is the “baby bump”. I’ve found this harder to achieve in a conventional oven as compared to a convection oven. These cakes are best eaten while still warm out of the oven.

[Yield: 12-14]
Ingredients
100g butter (1/2 cup)
zest of 1/2 lemon
112g whole eggs (2 eggs)
85g granulated sugar (6 tbsp + 2 tsp)
10g dark brown sugar (2 1/2 tsp)
100g all purpose flour (7/8 cup or 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp)
3.33g baking powder (1 1/2 tsp)
2.5g vanilla extract (1/2 tsp)
15g honey (1 tbsp)
10g whole milk (2 tsp)
2 drops of lemon oil (if desired)

Instructions
1. In a small pot, melt the butter.
2. Add lemon zest to the warm butter and set aside to cool.
3. In a stainless steel bowl, whisk eggs, both sugars, salt and vanilla extract.
4. In a separate bowl, combine milk and honey.
5. Pour milk and honey mixture into egg mixture.
6. Add butter mixture, stir until combined. Then lemon oil if you are using it.
7. Refrigerate overnight.
(continued below)

The next day
8. Prepare moulds by brushing them with melted butter and dusting lightly with all purpose flour.
9. Pipe moulds 3/4 full or around 24 grams each.
10. Bake at 400°F for 8 minutes in convection oven (12 minutes in a conventional oven.
11. Unmould and serve while they are still warm.

Note: For a good emulsion, the egg mixture, the milk and honey mixture, and the butter mixture should all be around the same temperature (21C).

Note: You might notice that my version is a little bit darker in colour than most madeleines. That’s because I used dark brown sugar in this recipe. I like the flavour that it adds to the overall taste, but feel free to just use all granulated sugar by simply adding 10 grams to the original 85 for a total of 95 grams.

Note: I tried variations in the baking temperatures, fan speeds, as well as resting time in the fridge. From these trials, I have found the best results when I baked them at 400°F (with 2 fans in the rationale oven) for approximately 8 minutes, with an overnight rest.