Classic French Madeleine Recipe: Soft, Buttery & Easy to Make

In his most renown work In Search of Lost Time, novelist Marcel Proust details a narrator’s experience with madeleines pastries which transport him momentarily back to his past, involuntarily and inevitably relishing in the flavors and pieces of his childhood.

Always shaped in their iconic seashell, with coral details, the pastry holds in its softness and sweet flavor much literary and cultural significance today. The history of the pastry is also often considered a mystery, with several differing origin stories for the invention of the treat:

Now, the phrase ‘madeleine de proust’ is used in French to refer to any kind of experience, smell, or taste which involuntarily evokes a vivid memory from the past. Do you have any?

Ingredients:

• 120g Flour
• 100g Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 115g Unsalted Butter
• 1 tsp orange blossom water or lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• optional: confectioner’s sugar to dust over the madeleines after baking

And, if you can, the characteristic madeleine shaped mould for your creations!

Optional Step 1: Brown the butter over medium heat, or melt it carefully with a microwave.

1. Whisk the eggs and sugar until pale, fluffy, and thick, for between 5 to 8 minutes.
2. Add in Lemon zest and vanilla extract until combined.
3. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a separate bowl.
4. Carefully add the dry ingredients by stirring intermittently, folding into the egg mixture until just combined.
5. Incorporate the butter into the batter carefully.
6. Cover and let chill (in Singaporean weather, this is done best by placing the batter in a fridge, covered) ideally for 2 hours.
7. Prepare the mould by generously buttering and lightly flouring a madeleine pan, and heating the oven to 220°C
8. Once chilled sufficiently, spoon the batter into each shell in the mould, filling them to about 3/4 full.
9. Bake for 10 minutes at 180°C

• Easiest mistake to make with madeleines is to over-mix the batter — make sure to fold gently to avoid
• Using high-quality, French butter can make all the difference in the flavor of the tasty pastry
• Madeleines are tastiest when freshly baked, ideally when still slightly warm!