Homemade Madeleines

The madeleine, or also called madalena, is a small sweet bun that originated in the French region of Lorraine, from where it spread to other parts of the world like Spain and much of Latin America.

The making of this recipe is simple and quick. The ingredients used, very similar to those used to prepare the classic sponge cake, are very economical, and also, easy to find in any food store. Therefore, this is a recipe that is within everyone's reach, both for its low cost and for how simple it is to prepare.

In my memory, there is a prominent place for these traditional sweets, which rarely lacked at home during my childhood. When my mother didn't have time to prepare them, she used to buy a few units at one of the two ovens that, at that time, worked in the village. They were large ovens that were fed with firewood. When I accompanied my mother in search of the madeleines, I was enthralled contemplating the gigantic mountains of firewood that piled up in the yard of the establishment. Now there is no firewood left, and in the oven where traditional desserts were once made, only industrial bread is baked. Times change, but it's up to us that, at least, everything inside remains as we have always wanted it to be. That's why, to keep alive the memory of my childhood, and out of respect for traditions that should never have been lost, we bake madeleines almost every week at home, and I try to make them resemble those that my memory guards so jealously.

If you have never tasted homemade madeleines, now is the time to start making them, as I have told you, this recipe is quick to make and the result far surpasses commercial madeleines.

If after finishing this recipe you want more, I invite you to visit our section of desserts and sweets, where you can find other madeleine recipes, like our delicious fresh cheese and lemon madeleines.

Do you have all the ingredients ready? Let's get started with the recipe!

How to make the recipe Homemade Madeleines

1. Put the flour, chemical yeast, cinnamon powder, and the zest of a lemon's peel in a bowl. If desired, we can replace the lemon peel with orange peel. With the help of a spoon, mix all the ingredients so that they are evenly distributed.
2. In another bowl, put the 3 eggs and beat them until you get a foamy mixture. If you have an electric whisk, use it, because the result will be a dough full of air. If you don't have this small appliance handy, you can beat the eggs with a manual whisk. The process will be more laborious this way, but the result will be equally satisfactory.
3. Once we have beaten the eggs, we gradually add the sugar while continuing to beat so that it is perfectly incorporated. Next, pour the milk into the bowl. Continue beating. Pour the oil little by little while continuing to work the mixture with the whisk. Once the liquids are incorporated, add a pinch of salt and beat so that it is distributed throughout the dough.
4. Finally, slowly pour in the flour that we have in the other bowl, without ever stopping beating. We will take special care not to leave lumps of flour in the dough. Once we have our dough ready, cover the bowl with plastic and put it in the fridge where we leave it for at least an hour. After the settling time, preheat the oven to 410ºF.
5. Take the bowl out of the fridge and start dividing its content among the paper capsules. Before doing so, we must place the capsules inside metal molds so that the madeleines maintain their shape and do not spread out in the oven. Fill the molds about 3/4 of their capacity.
6. Once the dough is divided, sprinkle a little granulated sugar on the surface. This way, we will create a delicious crust that is typical of madeleines.
7. Once the oven has reached the programmed temperature, put in the metal molds and bake at 410ºF for 15 minutes or until the inside of the madeleines is cooked. To check the point of cooking, insert a toothpick into the dough; if when removed, it has traces of dough stuck to it, extend the cooking for a few more minutes.
8. After taking them out of the oven, leave them in the metal molds for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, remove the madeleines from the metal molds and let them cool on a metal rack. Once cold, they are ready to eat.

Notes and Tips

The number of madeleines you will get with this recipe will depend on the type of paper molds you use. We have used molds with dimensions of 7 centimeters in diameter at the top, and a height of 3 centimeters. It is important that the paper capsules have the same measurements as the metal molds where you are going to put them, because if not, they will not maintain their shape.