Madeleines are very popular over here in Switzerland.  These small sponge cakes come from France and they are well-known for their distinctive funny shell-like shape.  To get them to have the proper shape, you must use a madeleine tray, and luckily you can easily buy one online nowadays, if you can’t find one in your local shop.  I have a silicone one, just like this one.   You can also buy a metallic try like this one.  If you don’t have a madeleine tray, no worries!  You can bake the madeleines in a muffin tray and they’ll turn out just as nice 🙂

In our family, we all adore the wonderful smell of vanilla that wafts through the house when I make a batch of madeleines.  They make lovely little treats to eat for snacks or to serve with a cup of tea when you have guests over.  You can easily pack them in a lunch box too.   

The madeleines freeze very well – just let them cool down completely before placing them in the freezer.  I usually make a big batch and freeze some.  Just take them out of the freezer when you need them, let them thaw for a few hours at room temperature and enjoy!

So… here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

Makes 36 madeleines:

• 250 g butter
• 170 g brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 125 g rice flour
• 125 g buckwheat flour
• 50 g cornflour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• juice of one lemon

Method:

• Place the butter in a bowl and melt (in the microwave for one minute, or over a pan of boiling water).
• Add the sugar to the melted butter and mix well.
• Add the eggs and mix well again.
• Add the flours, lemon juice, vanilla sugar, baking powder and pinch of salt.  Mix well, using a hand mixer if necessary (the batter must be smooth, without any lumps).
• Put a tablespoon of the batter into each of the little shell-shaped cavities of the madeleine tray.
• Bake in the oven at 200°C for 10 to 15 minutes.  Take the madeleines out of the tray and let them cool down before savouring them with a nice cup of tea 🙂

Hope you love them as much as we do 🙂