Mini Madeleines...inspired by Paris

One of my must visit shops in Paris is the fabulous E.Dehillerin.  This cook shop is a mecca for professional chefs and home cooks alike. I've been daydreaming about my visit for ages...constructing my list of NEEDS and my list of WANTS.  The lists weren't long, and for the most part they were realistic. I was looking for all sorts of things...financiers tins, mini madeleine tins, brioche moulds, tart rings (sans bottom)...and a copper milk pan.  

I had to choose.  It was tough. 

Yesterday I put one of my new purchases to the test and made what seemed like a billion mini madeleines.  I used my basic recipe and added lemon zest, poppy seeds and a lemon glaze.  

I wish the madeleines had browned a bit more...but in time the tin will season and my madeleines will be lovely and golden.  Bite sized madeleines make me happy.  

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lovely little madeleines

After sampling a lovely petite violet madeleine at lovecrumbs on Saturday I fell asleep day dreaming of platters piled high with different flavours of these dainty little cakes. (I am not going to get into the cake/cookie debate here...to me they are cakes for no other reason than they get hard as they go stale.) Apologies for the digression...recently I seem to have drifted away from making small cakes in favour of something more substantial, but there is something about these shell shaped delights that brings a smile to my face.  

To (almost) instantly satisfy my craving I whipped up a batch of lemon almond madeleines using a basic recipe my mum sent me when I bought my madeleine tin a few years ago.  

Madeleines really are a doddle, especially if you have a stand mixer.  The toughest bit is waiting patiently for the eggs to whisk up and triple in volume.  My transcribed recipe does not mention letting the batter rest (my fault, I probs copied it off from an email instead of printing it off) which meant that the first batch didn't produce the characteristic bump on the top side of the madeleine...the second batch did since the batter rested for about 25 mins.  Bump or no bump they tasted great.  

Up next...cardamom madeleines, pistachio madeleines and possibly something with ginger...watch this space!

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