Orange and Vanilla Madeleines
Author: 
Serves: makes about 3-4 dozen small madeleines
 
Recipe adapted from the French Institute's classic Madeleines
Ingredients
  • ⅔ cup granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs, room temperature
  • ¾ cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 TBSP orange juice
  • 1 TBSP orange zest
  • 1 tsp. Good vanilla extract
  • the scrapings of 1 vanilla bean
  • ¾ cup all prupose flour
  • ¼ cup cake flour
  • 1 tsp. Baking powder
  • small pinch of salt
  • plenty of extra butter for greasing the molds, very soft
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Begin by greasing the madeleine molds with butter. I suggest using two or three pans, this way you can bake more madeleines at once without having to cool and re-grease the molds multiple times. The butter should be very soft, but not melted, this way you can get a nice thick layer of butter to prevent sticking. I recommend using your fingers, or a pastry brush, to smear the butter into each mold.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs. This is easily done by hand, or with an electric mixer. Beat in the orange juice and zest, vanilla extract, and scrapings of one vanilla bean.
  4. In a separate bowl, whisk together both of the flours, baking powder, and salt. Add this, along with the melted butter, to the bowl with the egg mixture, and mix until just combined.
  5. Cover loosely with plastic wrap, or a damp tea towel, and let the batter rest at room temperature for 30-40 minutes. (You could also refrigerate the batter for up to a few hours -- keep in mind that chilled batter will take longer to bake.)
  6. When ready to bake, spoon about one TBSP batter into each mold, or enough to fill each about ¾ full (the amount will vary depending on the size of your mold). To make this easier, you can transfer the batter to a piping bag, or large ziptop bag, and pipe the batter into the pan.
  7. Place on the center rack of the oven, and bake for 10-13 minutes, or until lightly golden and risen. Remove from the oven and let cool for five minutes before removing from the pan.
  8. Serve as is, or with a dusting of powdered sugar. I like my madeleines alongside a cup of strong black tea, or with just a bit of rum or other liquor drizzled over them. Enjoy!
Notes
I love the light, fresh flavor from the vanilla and orange zest in these, but feel free to play around and change up the flavorings however you like. The orange juice and zest can easily be swapped for other types of citrus, or omitted entirely and replaced with other types of flavoring. A small amount of almond extract, or spices like cardamom, or ginger, would work well. I've even seen madeleines made with coffee, chocolate, or infused with tea. If you have a favorite flavor combination of your own, leave them in the comments section below!
Recipe by Will Cook For Friends at https://www.willcookforfriends.com/2015/01/orange-vanilla-madeleines.html