Vintage Eats Recipe: 1986 French Madeleines

If you’re still looking for a sweet dessert to make for your Sweetie on Valentine’s Day, I recommend this recipe for French Madeleines.

Don’t let the title throw you. Madeleines sound fancy and are traditionally made in special pans with a fanlike appearance so they look elegant.

But you don’t need special pans to turn out these soft cookies (I found mine at a thrift store). You can make them in a cupcake tin –place liners inside to make the cookies easier to remove.

Experienced bakers will recognize that it’s fairly rare to find a cookie with this minimal of ingredients. Those that are included in these Madeleines pack a punch. Four eggs give the petite-sized cookies oomph and a pretty pale color. Two cups of sugar sound like a lot but the cookies are not overly sweet.

The amount of vanilla is more than normal, but as the note included in the cookbook says, “The amount is correct.” The vanilla provides a pleasant, subtle taste on the tongue that taste like crisp little butter cakes.

As you can see from the photos, I melted chocolate and added sprinkles to my madeleines just for effect. I didn’t decorate Christmas cookies this past year so this was my compensation.

This great recipe was published in Six Ingredients or Less Cookbook (C.J. Books, 1986). That is an appealing title as it does what it promises – provides 600+ recipes to help the busy cook. The recipes not only keep steps simple and processes quick, but it also keeps food costs down which is something we’re all trying to do nowadays. I know eggs didn’t cost as much in 1986 as they do now!

This 222-page, spiral-bound book, written by Carlean Johnson, is a handy, easy-to-read volume that I will refer to again.

An observation about the pans.

I used a Wilton metal pan and a silicone mold. While the Wilton is high quality and was greased and floured and carefully watched so as not to produce burnt cookies, they still came out dark. The silicone mold produced cookies with no color. I only photographed the silicone, though the darker ones tasted fine too.

I heard about Madeleines on the Great British Baking Show (S9 E9). I encourage you to check it out! It’s a fun, educational show for bakers.

French Madeleines

4 eggs

2 c. sugar

2 c. flour

1-½ c. butter, melted

1 T. vanilla flavoring (This amount is correct)

Sifted powdered sugar

Combine eggs and sugar in top of double boiler.

Heat until lukewarm.

Remove from heat and place mixture in mixer bowl.

Beat until cooled.

Add flour gradually, mixing well after each addition.

Add melted butter and vanilla, mixing until smooth.

Use special shell-shaped Madeleine molds which have been greased and floured or small 1-½-inch greased and floured muffin tins.

Fill molds two-thirds full.

Bake at 425 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until just lightly browned around edges.

Remove from oven let stand about a minute.

Tap pan to release cakes; cool on rack.

Just before serving sift powdered sugar lightly over top.

Makes 6 dozen

My Notes:

1. My yield was closer to three dozen, rather than 6 dozen as the original recipe stated.

Vintage Find of the Week

Isn’t this little red apron precious? I pulled it out of my collection for its color — I can’t get enough red at Valentine’s Day! It has 3 handy pockets and is so sheer that I assume it was used at a wedding. I had to be careful while ironing it.

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Take care,