I don’t know how I ended up preparing this on a Sunday night. Perhaps I was bored on a weekend. Yes, I am the only one who can get bored during a weekend. Maybe I was simply trying to spend the final few hours of Sunday doing something I enjoyed before reality strikes on Monday. It could also be that the blueberries in the fridge were screaming out loud that they are going to rot anytime soon. I suspect the 3rd reason is why I baked these. Hush.
On another note, I am still waiting for the kitchen cabinets be ready. This is surely a torment, the waiting I mean. Last night at 3am, I arranged cutlery in my new cutlery stand and was hanging kitchen utensils on the rack. Someone can invite me to the weirdo club already. I have shown enough symptoms of crazy behavioral patterns to qualify for that club.
Back to these babies. Madeleines are scallop shaped buttery cakes that are supposed to originate from the little French town of Commercy. Often topped with a dusting of icing sugar, madeleines makes a pretty and dainty teatime treat that is huge on flavor.
Madeleines are a classic but in this recipe, I gave this popular classic a slight twist. I added lemon zest and plump blueberries to these and they turned out to be great add-ons to make this even more delicious. Light, yet buttery and every bite was bursting with fresh blueberries and zingy lemon goodness! Mom ate 6 of these madeleines when it was out of the oven. Butter + lemon is ALWAYS a winner in bakes. The smell of these Lemon and Blueberry Madeleines, when they were baking away…it made my heart sang a happy dum dee dum dum. ♥
Madeleines are vain and they are supposed to be humpy and every baker are proud of their madeleine humps. Ahem.
A few factors that contribute to the “humps” on madeleines.
- Chilling the batter for at least 3 hours in advance.
- You do not have to spread the batter in the pan once you’ve scooped it in.
- Wipe the madeleines pan clean after every batch.
They are really easy to make. Although the humps give the characteristic to Madeleines, this doesn’t mean that you can’t make these babies, if you do not have 3 hours to spare. You can still make these Madeleines. Less humps, but still very delicious. This time round, I did not chill the batter either. It was already 10pm when I planned to bake this. If I chilled the batter for 3 hours, it would have already been Monday and I don’t think I want to be baking on Mondays.
A glass of Cold milk and a plate of this Lemon and Blueberry Madeleines on a Monday afternoon. What Monday blues? There is no such a thing, really.
- 115g salted butter
- 130g all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 120 gram fine sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
- ½ cup blueberries
- Melt the butter in a microwave and keep aside.
- In a small bowl sift the flour and baking powder and set aside.
- Using a mixer, beat the eggs and sugar at high speed until the mixture is thick and pale.
- Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest.
- Add in about one-third of the flour over the whipped eggs and gently fold in, using a rubber spatula.
- Fold in half of the remaining flour, and then fold in the rest.
- Do not over mix or the batter will deflate
- Fold in the melted butter, bit by bit.
- If you have time, cover and refrigerate the batter for at least 3 hours or preferably overnight. If not, you can bake without keeping the batter in the fridge.
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Generously grease the molds of two Madeleine pans with butter.
- Refrigerate the pans until the butter hardens (about 10 minutes).
- Drop a generous tablespoonful of the batter into the center of each prepared mold.
- Top with a couple of blueberries.
- Bake the Madeleines for about 10-15 minutes, until the edges are golden brown.
- Remove the Madeleines from the mold and let it cool on a wire rack.
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