Orange Madeleines

I’ve had the hardest time trying to write this post. Usually I have an anecdote or something to say, but this week I’ve got nothing. I made madeleines because I wanted to bake something pretty, and I wasn’t in the mood sprinkles and icing. I served them to a friend who came over for coffee. We discussed hypothetical home purchases and gave each other hypothetical high fives while eating these yummy treats. That’s it.

Madeleines are basically little sponge cakes baked in special scalloped molds. I used David Lebovitz’s recipe, swapping out the lemon for orange. Despite his intentional vagueness, I found the recipe pretty easy to follow. Madeleines seem tough, but if you trust your baking instincts you’ll do fine.

In other news Danielle of Runs with Spatulas has been kind enough to give me the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers blog award. I really enjoy her blog, she has great recipes and gorgeous photos and I’m so happy she likes mine too! To accept the award, it needs to be passed on to 15 other bloggers and I need to share 7 things about myself that you don’t know.

  1. I’m generally very quiet, but I have a loud laugh. It might be annoying.
  2. Birds creep me out. Like a lot. They could peck your eyes out! Have you seen The Birds (or read the short story)?
  3. When I was a kid I thought eggs made my ears itchy so I refused to eat them. I only recently started eating them again.
  4. I am an amazing car singer. I’m especially good at 80’s power ballads.
  5. I’m only attracted to jerks. If I’m attracted to a guy who is not a jerk, he must be unavailable somehow (the most recent examples of this are recently divorced and lives far far away).
  6. My left leg is longer than my right leg. I found this out recently from the osteopath I went to see for my headaches. Why he was looking at my legs when my head was the problem, I do not know.
  7. I don’t like marshmallow filled chocolates, but I like marshmallows and chocolate. And I like s’mores.

So there you have it; 7 things about me you didn’t know before.

And now the important part, the 15 blogs I’d like to share the award with:

Kristel of Kristel’s Kitchen

Azmina of Lawyer Loves Lunch

Lilian of Sweets by Sillianah

Victoria of The District Chocoholic

Mardi of Eat. Live. Travel. Write 

Linsdey of Gingerbread Bagels

Sommer of A Spicy Perspective

Carolyn of All Day I Dream About Food

Christine of With a Bowl of Rice

Janice of Kitchen Heals Soul

Karen of Tasty Trials

Katrina of In Katrina`s Kitchen

Kim of Liv Life

Terra of Café Terra

Rachel of Baked By Rachel

Orange Glazed Madeleines

  • 3 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder (optional)
  • zest of one orange, divided
  • 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature, plus additional melted butter for preparing the molds
  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 3 tablespoon freshly-squeezed orange juice
  1. Brush the indentations of a madeleine mold with melted butter. Dust with flour, tap off any excess, and place in the fridge or freezer.
  2. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, whip the eggs, granulated sugar, and salt for 5 minutes until frothy and thickened.
  3.  Sift the flour and baking powder in the egg mixture, using a spatula to fold in the flour.
  4. Add half the orange zest to the cooled butter, then dribble the butter into the batter, a few spoonfuls at a time, while simultaneously folding to incorporate the butter. Fold just until all the butter is incorporated.
  5. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
  6. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Pour enough batter into the molds to fill them 3/4’s of the way once the batter has spread from the heat of the oven. As David says, it’s not brain surgery.
  7. Bake for 8-9 minutes.
  8. While the cakes are baking, make the glaze by combining the powdered sugar, orange juice and remaining zest.
  9. Remove the madeleines from the oven and unmold by tilting the baking sheet onto cooling rack. Once they are cool enough to handle dip into the glaze, covering both sides of the cakes. Place the madeleines back on the cooling rack until the glaze has set.
Enjoy!

17 thoughts on “Orange Madeleines

  1. Lynn I like your thinking here to swap the lemon for orange. I loved making Madeleines for the girls when they were little. Congrats on your award, hoping you receive many more.
    -Gina-

  2. Hi Lynn, congrats on your madeleines and your award;-)
    I love your orange flavored madeleines and wish I could have one with a cup of tea today, oh well;-)

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