Orange-Scented Madeleines – Little Madeleine cakes are sprinkled with orange zest to give them a hint of orange flavor
Today’s recipe is for a cute little treat that can be made in a jiffy. As such, it’s a great dessert or snack to make with very little notice or when you have a sudden craving for something sweet. Even more, you have the ingredients on hand right now so there’s no excuse not to make these.
The recipe is for Orange-Scented Madeleines. I call them “scented” because they have a hint of orange flavor brought on by the orange zest. The zest brightens up the flavor in the madeleine without overpowering it. Therefore, I felt “scented” was the more appropriate description of these little cakes.
Before we get into the recipe, here is a look at the little beauties!
What are madeleines?
Madeleines are little cakes that originated in France. In fact, the French consider these a cookie because of their small size and light texture that’s perfect for snacking.
Madeleines are characterized by their scallop shape on one side. You cannot make a madeleine without achieving this shape. As such, you will need a special pan to make these.
When it comes to their flavor, Madeleines come in all kinds: chocolate, lemon, almond raspberry, etc. They can also come dipped in chocolate or coated with an icing.
How are madeleines made?
Madeleines are very simple to make. The batter is made by hand (no mixer required!) by whisking eggs, sugar, and orange zest together first and then adding dry ingredients. Finally, the butter is whisked in to finish the batter. The resulting batter is beautifully speckled with flecks of orange.
Once the batter is done, it’s transferred to a storage bag to be piped into the madeleine molds. Then, the batter is chilled for 30 minutes to let it cool and rest before baking.
Once cooled, the madeleines are baked for just 8 minutes and then removed from the oven to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Tips & Tricks
- You must cool the butter slightly before adding to the batter to prevent the eggs from scrambling.
- It’s so important to pipe the batter AND chill before baking. This will ensure the madeleines don’t overflow.
- The pan I used had 16 regular-sized madeleine molds in it. It’s located here. it’s heavy-duty and impeccable quality. Additionally, it fit all the batter in this recipe, except maybe 1 tablespoon.
Orange-Scented Madeleines
Ingredients
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 large eggs
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
- 6 tablespoons butter unsalted, melted and cooled
Instructions
- Add flour, salt, and baking powder to a small bowl and whisk together. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, sugars, honey, and orange zest until combined. Add in the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Slowly whisk melted butter into the batter . Mix just until combined.
- Pour batter into a gallon storage bag. Spray Madeleine pan with nonstick spray. Cut the corner off the storage bag and slowly pipe a tube of batter into the center of each mold. No need to spread out the batter because it will spread when it bakes. Chill in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place madeleine pan into preheated oven and bake for 8 minutes or just until the edges start to brown.
- Remove from oven and let them cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to finish cooling. Serve immediately or within 12 hours. Freeze any extras for up to 3 months.
Notes
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Yum! This made me really crave! Your Orange-Scented Madeleines look sooo mouthwatering. The scent is divijne.
These are my new favorite cookie. They’re so light, buttery, and delish, and the orange flavor really put them over the top! Yum!
These madeleines were so light and fluffy and the orange flavor put them over the top! I enjoyed them with my coffee this afternoon – so good!
I love Madeleine cake. This is one of my favorite cake so far. Perfect to serve it with hot green tea.
I love madeleines and the orange flavor makes them perfect!
They look so delicious! And with the orange flavor, they must smell amazing.
yum!! these look so stinking good, I totally gotta make them!
These look amazing! Love the little shapes you baked them in! I need to get some more fun cookware!
Yum, these look delicious! I tend to enjoy orange desserts so I’ll have to make these.
Wow these look so good, I definitely need the pan to make them