Lemon Madeleines

I visited the New York Cake Store (aka a baker's paradise) and bought myself a Madeleine pan. I found this recipe for lemon Madeleines and then created a lemon icing for it which really helped retain its moisture. With my first batch, I made the icing a little thinner and dunked the whole Madeleine. With the second batch, I thickened the icing and dunked only the top fluted part of the cookie. Either way still tasted great (the sweetness of the icing, surprisingly, was not overpowering at all), but icing only the top made for a cleaner presentation because the bottoms of batch #1 started to stick to the wire racks after I had iced them, creating indentations on the bottoms.

This recipe makes light, fluffy Madeleines. It doesn't even use that much butter, which to me was surprising, because I always thought Madeleines were completely laden with butter. They were spongy and moist and perfect with coffee. Definitely making these over and over again. Maybe I'll have to make some matcha ones since my supply of matcha powder never seems to diminish.

Lemon Madeleines
Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Yields 1 dozen madeleines

2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Butter and a flour a 12-count madeleine mold and set in freezer.
Melt 1/4 cup of butter and set aside to allow to cool to room temperature.
In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, vanilla and salt at high speed until it starts to become light and fluffy.
Beating constantly, gradually add sugar. Continue beating at high speed until mixture is thick, pale, and ribbons form in the bowl when beaters are lifted (about 5-10 minutes).
Sift flour into the egg mixture 1/3 at a time, gently folding in after each addition.
Add lemon zest. Pour melted butter around the edge of the batter. Quickly but gently fold the butter into the batter.
Spoon batter into molds filling all the way to the top (since this recipe does not have baking soda/powder, the cakes will not overflow out of the mold).
Bake for 14-17 minutes, or until cakes are golden and the tops spring back when gently pressed with fingertip.
Use the tip of a knife to loosen madeleines from pan (they should slip out easily if pan was prepped well). Place cookies onto wire rick with fluted side up. Allow to cool before icing.


Lemon Icing

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons water (room temperature)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Whisk ingredients together until smooth.
Dunk whole or top fluted half of madeleine into icing; place on wire rack to allow icing to set.
Once icing is set, dust tops with additional powdered sugar if desired.