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    Home » Recipes » Cookies, Muffins et Petits Gâteaux

    Classic Madeleines of Commercy

    March 15, 2022 By Francoise 2 Comments

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    This post is also available in: Français

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Classic Madeleines of Commercy are small, iconic French cakes shaped like shells with a distinct little bump on the top. They are soft in the center and slightly crunchy on the edges. Though their shape is complex, they use simple ingredients including eggs, sugar, flour, melted butter, and some lemon or orange for flavor.

    I love these Classic Madeleines of Commercy. These are childhood memories. A beloved delicacy that the French people like to eat or dip in a hot drink.

    Madeleines in a black mold

    What is the origin of Madeleines of Commercy?

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    “They were created in Commercy (Northeastern of France) by Madeleine, a replacement for Stanislas’ pastry chef, who had given up his apron at a reception organized by the Duke of Lorraine. Madeleine, the simple maid, baked the only cake for which she knew the family recipe in scallop shells. The king and his guests ate so many of these cakes that Stanislas decided to call them by the name of his servant “Madeleine”.


    A few days later, Stanislas sent a box to Versailles for his daughter, Queen Marie Leczinksa, the wife of Louis XV. These little cakes were much appreciated at court, where they were given the name of the Queen’s cake. However, the sovereign protested and insisted that the delicacy retain the name given to it by its illustrious godfather and under which its fame only grew. Since then la Madeleine has thus become the specialty of Commercy.” (“La Cuisine Lorraine” Jean-Marie Cuny).

    Madeleines in a black mold

    A literary reference with Proust

    Madeleine also owes its real fame to Marcel Proust and his first book “A la Recherche du Temps Perdu” (In Search of Lost Time, Volume I: Swann’s Way – Part One “Combray”). In it, Proust described childhood memories of soaking Madeleines in a cup of tea:

    “And suddenly the memory revealed itself. The taste
    was that of the little piece of madeleine which on Sunday
    mornings at Combray (because on those mornings I did
    not go out before mass), when I went to say good morning
    to her in her bedroom, my aunt Léonie used to give me,
    dipping it first in her own cup of tea or tisane. The sight of
    the little madeleine had recalled nothing to my mind
    before I tasted it; perhaps because I had so often seen such
    things in the meantime, without tasting them, on the trays
    in pastry-cooks’ windows, that their image had dissociated
    itself from those Combray days to take its place among
    others more recent; perhaps because, of those memories so
    long abandoned and put out of mind, nothing now
    survived, everything was scattered; the shapes of things,
    including that of the little scallop-shell of pastry, so richly
    sensual under its severe, religious folds, were either
    obliterated or had been so long dormant as to have lost the
    power of expansion which would have allowed them to
    resume their place in my consciousness. But when from a
    long-distant past nothing subsists, after the people are
    dead, after the things are broken and scattered, taste and
    smell alone, more fragile but more enduring, more
    immaterial, more persistent, more faithful, remain poised
    a long time, like souls, remembering, waiting, hoping,
    amid the ruins of all the rest; and bear unflinchingly, in
    the tiny and almost impalpable drop of their essence, the
    vast structure of recollection.


    “And as soon as I had recognised the taste of the piece
    of madeleine
    soaked in her decoction of lime-blossom
    which my aunt used to give me (although I did not yet
    know and must long postpone the discovery of why this
    memory made me so happy) immediately the old grey
    house upon the street, where her room was, rose up like a
    stage set to attach itself to the little pavilion opening on to
    the garden which had been built out behind it for my
    parents (the isolated segment which until that moment
    had been all that I could see); and with the house the town,
    from morning to night and in all weathers, the Square
    where I used to be sent before lunch, the streets along
    which I used to run errands, the country roads we took
    when it was fine. And as in the game wherein the Japanese
    amuse themselves by filling a porcelain bowl with water
    and steeping in it little pieces of paper which until then are
    without character or form, but, the moment they become
    wet, stretch and twist and take on colour and distinctive
    shape, become flowers or houses or people, solid and
    recognisable, so in that moment all the flowers in our
    garden and in M. Swann’s park, and the waterlilies on the
    Vivonne and the good folk of the village and their little
    dwellings and the parish church and the whole of
    Combray and its surroundings, taking shape and solidity,
    sprang into being, town and gardens alike, from my cup of tea.
    “

    Since then, the “Madeleine of Proust” has become a metaphor for when a feeling of nostalgia is caused by a smell, a color, or a place.

    Madeleines in a black mold

    How to get the distinct Madeleine bump?

    There are a lot of theories on how to obtain the famous hump of Madeleine. But what works for me, each time is:

    • Making sure to preheat the oven at a high temperature (445F) to get the distinct Madeleine bump.
    • Spooning or piping the batter in the madeleine mold a little less than ¼ inch from the edge (but no more).
    • Putting the filled mold in the fridge for at least 10 min before baking.
    Classic Madeleines de Commercy

    Lastly, this recipe for Classic Madeleines of Commercy is somewhat special to me. In fact, this is my first recipe published on my blog in 2014. I made some updates since and as a memory, I am leaving you my first picture taken at that time.

    Classic Madeleine of Commercy

    Hope you will enjoy this special recipe as I do!

    Madeleines in a black mold

    Classic Madeleines of Commercy

    Francoise
    Soft in the center, slightly crunchy on the edges, and flavored with lemon.
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 15 mins
    Cook Time 9 mins
    Resting time 10 mins
    Total Time 34 mins
    Course Dessert, Snack
    Cuisine French
    Servings 24 madeleines

    Equipment

    • 1 madeleine mold

    Ingredients
      

    • 90 g butter
    • 30 g honey
    • 3 large eggs
    • 70 g sugar
    • Zest of one organic lemon (or 1 teaspoon of lemon extract)
    • 110 g all-purpose flour sifted
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • ¼ teaspoon salt

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat the oven at 445 F.
    • In a saucepan, melt the butter. Then add the honey. Mix well. Set aside.
    • In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and sugar. Whisk until well-combined and the mixture creates a foam.
    • Pour the mix of melted butter-honey in it and add the lemon zest (or lemon extract)
    • Add the sifted flour, baking powder, and salt to the mix and whisk until well incorporated.
    • Grease and flour the Madeleine molds if in metal. No need to grease the mold if silicone. Spoon or pipe the batter in the mold, leaving the madeleines 5 mm (a little less than ¼ inch) from the edge.
    • Put the filled mold in the fridge for at least 10 min before baking.
    • Bake for 1min 30s at 445F, then turn off the oven and leave them until the bump is formed (about 6-7 min). Keep an eye on the last minute; they can burn very quickly around the edge!
    • After removing from the oven, unmold the madeleines as soon as possible to prevent them from sticking to the mold.
    • Let them cool on a wire rack. Store them in an airtight container for a couple of days.
    Keyword how to make madeleine, lemon, Madeleine recipe, small cakes, sponge cake
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Naomi

      January 14, 2021 at 9:14 pm

      Hello Francoise,
      I love Madeleines, and I have been looking for an authentic recipe for them. Would you give quantity of ingredients in metric (grams and ml)?
      I grew up in Japan, and am much more used to metric system than imperial (oz). Thank you in advance!

      Reply
      • Francoise

        January 19, 2021 at 10:28 am

        Hi Naomi,

        Thank you for your interest in my Madeleine recipe. It was my first recipe on the blog. I was planning to update this recipe and pictures soon. I will let you know when it will be ready. Thank you in advance!

        Reply

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    My name is Francoise. I am a French mom who lives in Atlanta, GA since 1999.
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