Madeleines: the miniature French cake that majors on flavour

In one sense, a madeleine is simply a small cake. In fact, it’s an extremely classic cake, made with the genoise method. But there’s more to a madeleine than that: the proportions of madeleines, their miniature nature and scalloped shape, mean that they have a perfect contrast between their slightly sticky, almost crisp outside, and impossibly light and soft interior. Traditionally they are made with browned butter, which does what browned butter does best, bringing depth and complexity to a straightforward sponge. The dark muscovado and honey in the recipe elevate these little sponges from a miniature cake into something really special.

The holy grail when madeleine making are those characteristic bumps in the centre of the cake, sitting like pregnant tummies. The genoise sponge – where whole eggs are whisked with sugar until super thick, then flour is folded into it, followed by melted butter which is drizzled gently into the batter – helps. This method of incorporation retains as much air in the batter as possible. But really, those bumps are created by the shock of the cold batter hitting a hot oven, which kickstarts the raising agents before the batter has a chance to set. We exaggerate this by letting the batter rest in the fridge for several hours (ideally overnight), and chilling the tin in the freezer, and then preheating the oven super high.

When I was taught to make madeleines at culinary school, the chef taking the lecture told us that he couldn’t tell us the trick to that iconic bump beyond – he dead panned – ‘making them perfectly’. Aside from the fact that that is deeply unhelpful advice, I’m not sure I buy it, to be honest, especially at home in fan-assisted, slightly uneven ovens. To be candid, when I make a batch of madeleines – even when I make them perfectly – perhaps a half or ⅔ will show off a proud little tummy.