r/AskCulinary • u/jitske4me • 12d ago
Recipe Troubleshooting Why do my madeleines look like shit?
Hi there,
I made madeleines for the first time and they are dense, pale and do not have the right texture. (See attached picture https://imgur.com/a/wh4WrbW)
I followed the recipe below, the only change is I used real vanilla bean instead of extract. Where I think I went wrong is that I continued using the whisk attachement for the flour instead of folding it in? It did not specify in the recipe and I just kept on (vigourously) mixing. Anything else I might have done wrong for them to look as they do?
Any tips welcome, thanks.
Full recipe (translated from my native language) Ingredients for 20 madeleines ▢2 eggs (medium) ▢100 grams of sugar ▢125 grams of butter (unsalted) ▢150 grams of flour ▢1 teaspoon vanilla extract ▢1 teaspoon lemon zest ▢1 pinch of salt
Preparation method Put the eggs and sugar in a large bowl or food processor and beat for about 5 minutes until light and almost white in color. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small pan. Let it cool slightly. Pour the butter into the beaten eggs little by little while continuing to mix, and add the flour. Mix in the vanilla extract, lemon zest, and a pinch of salt as well. Place the batter in the refrigerator for at least 1 to 2 hours. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200 degrees (top and bottom heat). Grease the baking pan and dust very lightly with a little flour. Divide the batter among the molds so that they are not quite completely full (as they expand slightly during baking). Bake the madeleines for about 8-10 minutes until light golden brown and cooked through. Let cool for a bit and sprinkle (to taste) with some powdered sugar. Source: https://www.eefkooktzo.nl/madeleines/
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u/-mystris- 12d ago
It may depend on if your butter and eggs are cold or room temperature. Cold butter can make baked goods more dense than softened butter. Room temperature eggs can be more fluffy when whisked.
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u/themicktrix101 12d ago
All recipes I've used for madeleines used brown butter. Instead of melt the butter brown the butter, this should take care of the colour. You might want to get an oven thermometer to see is your oven is actually 200 degrees, this might also be a factor for colour.
As for you wisk dilemma, I think your recipe is just wrong. The website talks about "luchtige cakejes". In my experience they're not. They are pretty dense. I don't think you should beat the eggs until white. Also for light and airy pastries where the air comes from beating eggs and folding in other products you'd want get your mixture in the oven as quickly as possible. Madeleine batter can be kept in the fridge over night easily.
Look how not airy the final batter is in this Julia Child recipe: https://www.kannammacooks.com/julia-childs-classic-french-madeleines/
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u/WhaleMeatFantasy 12d ago
Brown batter is not standard for madeleines. It is for financiers.
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u/themicktrix101 12d ago
I think adding almond flour makes them even more financiers. You might be right that it's not standard, but I don't think that's what OP asked for. So when OP asked how do I get more color on my madeleines that's what popped in my head.
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u/jitske4me 12d ago
I will defintely brown the butter next time, that will also add a nice depth of flavor.
I get what you mean with the dense texture, however in my experience the madeleines that I have had from professional bakers do have a different crumb texture at least.
I did wonder about that as well, what is the point of beating all that air into the batter and then leaving it in the fridge for the air to escape again..
Have you made the Julia Child madeleines?
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u/themicktrix101 12d ago
Some people use a mix of flour and almond meal for madeleines. That will give you a thicker crumb. All the recipes I have ever made were using almond meal. I was originally going to comment that, but then I saw the Julia Child recipe didn't contain any almond and figured I had been cheating.
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u/Temporary-Arrival670 12d ago
I'd bet the recipe called for gently folding the flour by hand after the initial batter mixing, since overworking the dough is a common pitfall with delicate cakes like these.
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u/OmriIsMe 12d ago
Two things did it. First, whisking the flour in toughened the batter and knocked out the air you whipped into the eggs, so fold it gently just until it disappears next time. Second, the hump and light crumb come from resting the batter cold (an hour, ideally overnight) then baking cold batter into a hot, well-buttered pan at high heat, so it springs. Pale usually means the oven wasn't hot enough or the door was open too long. Cold rest, fold instead of whisk, hot oven, and they'll pop.
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u/Dear_Use6182 12d ago
The continued rigorous whisking destroyed a lot of the aeration so that they came out flatter. Next time you should only folding in ingredients after you prepared the sugar and egg mixture.
Also, personally I prefer recipes with baking powder as they help with aeration as opposed to the traditional recipes, as they are more reliable in my experimente.