Marcus Wareing’s Madeleines Recipe

A quintessentially French treat, madeleines are easily recognisable for their shell-like shape. When baked right, they’re sweet, buttery and bite-sized (meaning wolfing down a few at a time is always tempting). So how does chef Marcus Wareing make them? Here the French chef shares a recipe for Madeleines, taken from his latest cookbook Marcus’s France.

Recipe: Marcus Wareing’s Madeleines

You can vary the ingredients of this simple sponge cake but I like to keep them classic and serve flavoured creams on the side. 

Ingredients:

Makes 16 large madeleines

• 2 eggs
• 100g caster sugar
• Grated zest of 1 lemon
• 100g plain flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 100g butter, melted 
• Icing sugar, to dust 

For the vanilla cream

• 150ml whipping cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp icing sugar 

For the raspberry cream

• 150ml whipping cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp icing sugar
• 50g fresh raspberries

Method

1. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together with an electric whisk for 3-5 minutes until fluffy. The beaters should leave a trail on the surface of the batter when lifted (this is called the ‘ribbon’ stage). Add the lemon zest and mix again, just enough to combine.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the flour and baking powder together, then sift this mixture over the batter and carefully fold it in. Add the melted butter and mix gently until a smooth batter is formed.
3. Using a pastry brush, grease a 12-hole madeleine tin with melted butter. Shake a little flour on top, to coat, tapping out the excess. Cover the madeleine batter with clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6. Divide the mix evenly among the holes of the madeleine tin (don’t fill each one more than three-quarters full). Bake for 8–10 minutes until lightly golden and firm to the touch.
4. While the madeleines are cooking, make the flavoured creams. For the vanilla cream, place the whipping cream into a bowl, add the vanilla extract and icing sugar and whisk with an electric whisk until it forms soft peaks. Spoon into a serving bowl. For the raspberry cream, pour the whipping cream into a bowl, add the vanilla extract and icing sugar. Place the raspberries into a sieve and press through the sieve over the cream to extract the juice and remove the seeds. Whisk this mixture together with an electric whisk until it forms soft peaks and then spoon into a serving bowl. 
5. Release the madeleines from the tin as soon as you remove it from the oven – so they do not stick – and cool them on a wire rack. Bake the leftover mix in the same way. Dust with icing sugar and serve with the vanilla and raspberry cream to dip into.

Marcus’s France is out now