On a recent trip to Adelaide I came across Mireille Guiliano's The French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook at the airport bookshop. I've not read her book French Women Don't Get Fat, but I am obsessed with cookbooks and have built up quite a collection, and on a flick through of the book some of the recipes in this book intrigued me (for some reason I love French recipes) enough to add this book to my already overflowing collection.
Whilst the book appears on the surface to be a diet book (particularly from the title, which almost caused me to dismiss it), it in fact contains some delicious recipes, such as Madeleines au chocolat (Chocolate Madeleines), which is obviously not a recipe for those on a diet.
I've never made madeleines before, and have always wanted to, so finding the madeleines au chocolat recipe which coincided with a purchase the day before from Peter's of Kensington of a madeleine tray, it seemed like fate, so I had to make them at the first opportunity.
Chocolate Madeleines (Madeleine au Chocolat)
Recipe from Mireille Guiliano's The French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook.
Makes 18 to 20 madeleines
Ingredients:
100g dark chocolate
85g butter, at room temperature and cut into small squares
55g plus 3 tablespoons of plain flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
2 large eggs
110g sugar
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius and grease a madeleine tray with butter.
2. Melt the chocolate and butter either over a pot of steaming water or in the microwave and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool.
3. In a small bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder.
4. In a mixer, whisk the eggs until frothy. Then gradually add the sugar and continue whisking until the mixture is pale yellow and has thickened. Turn off the mixer.
5. Add the cooled butter to the mixture and fold through the mixture gently with a spoon before carefully adding the flour. Mix until just combined.
6. Fill the moulds until ¾ full and bake in the oven for 11 to 13 minutes or until they are puffed and spring back when touched. Do not overbake.
Chocolate Madeleines (Madeleine au Chocolat)
Ingredients
- 100 g dark chocolate
- 85 g butter at room temperature and cut into small squares
- 55 g plus 3 tablespoons of plain flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 2 large eggs
- 110 g sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius and grease a madeleine tray with butter.
- Melt the chocolate and butter either over a pot of steaming water or in the microwave and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool.
- In a small bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder.
- In a mixer, whisk the eggs until frothy. Then gradually add the sugar and continue whisking until the mixture is pale yellow and has thickened. Turn off the mixer.
- Add the cooled butter to the mixture and fold through the mixture gently with a spoon before carefully adding the flour. Mix until just combined.
- Fill the moulds until ¾ full and bake in the oven for 11 to 13 minutes or until they are puffed and spring back when touched. Do not overbake.
Nutrition (Estimated)
Variations
You can, like I did, add a variety of flavouring essences, such as peppermint or orange. I added 3 teaspoons of peppermint essence to the cake batter before baking for a subtle peppermint flavour.
Another delicious variation is to dip one half of the madeleines in melted chocolate and leave to set.
Amy says
Excellent recipe - light & fluffy little things with perfect amount of chocolate. Grease the tin more than you think you need to to stop them sticking. Haven’t managed to get the elusive ‘bump’ yet but I’ll keep making (and eating!) til I do!
Xiaolu says
This makes want to buy a madeleine pan 🙂 though my small kitchen is already overflowing with bakeware haha. Lovely little cakes!
delicieux says
My kitchen is overflowing too Xiaolu. I think it's become an addiction.....kitchenware and cookbooks.
Jess says
My adoration for madeleines know no bounds, seriously. These look fantastic. I'm definitely going to give this recipe a go because even though I love madeleines, I've never made chocolate ones (shame on me!). I'll also have a go at adding some orange essence/orange zest/Grand Marnier to them as well since chocolate and orange is one of my favourite combinations. This recipe also intrigues me because all the madeleines I've made have required the butter to be clarified first, and I wonder what the results of skipping the clarification process would be (obviously it's possible but I wonder if there'd be any change in texture).
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delicieux says
Thanks for the comment Jess. Like you, chocolate and orange is one of my favourite combinations, but sadly my boyfriend doesn't like it, so I went with peppermint. They were also delicious dipped in melted chocolate.
Let me know what you think of the recipe.
Not Quite Nigella says
Hehe that's where I bought my madeleine tray from too! They look great and I like your idea of dipping them into chocolate! 😀
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delicieux says
I love Peters of Kensington, but it's a dangerous place as I could spend so much money there!