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Bonjour, and welcome to first in my very special week-long celebration of everything French, Spanish, and Italian. As I may have mentioned a few times, Katie and I recently spent two gorgeous weeks cruising around the Mediterranean with my family, indulging in incredible food like a delightful chocolate orange madeleine recipe, so forgive me if I’m just not ready to let go of the sunshine, delicious treats, and breathtaking scenery.
Chocolate and orange madeleine recipe, Mediterranean delicacy
I will be sharing a new recipe every single day this week, ending with something a little unusual for this blog on Sunday.
Salut!
First up, we’re shading to beautiful France in order to chow down on some classic French Madeleines… with a twist. It wouldn’t be What Charlotte Baked if I didn’t manage to add something altogether more British – I’m looking at you Terry’s Chocolate Orange – to the mix.
French Madeleines; a delight for beginners
If you’re a novice Madeleine maker like myself, you’re going to be pleasantly surprised with just how uncomplicated these little French treats actually are. On a difficulty scale from 1 all the way up to French Macarons, Madeleines are about a 2. And they’re also really fun to watch bake in the oven, going from dead flat to pointy hump in a matter of minutes.
Cupcakes with a hint of orange Simple and elegant
The actual Madeleines are the standard French recipe you can find in any good cookbook, but with some added orange juice and zest. For once, I restrained myself from putting chocolate into the batter, and instead you are left with a delicate buy zesty orange flavoured little sponge cake.
Soft chocolate and orange muffins
I’m an under baker, as I like my baked goods to be soft and delicate, so I took them out of the oven at 9 minutes. If you prefer your chocolate orange madeleine recipe to be a little crispier on the outside, leave them in for up to 11 minutes. Any longer than that and you run the risk of the cake drying out. And no one wants that.
“Help, I’m Madeleine—get me out of here!”
3 Tips for a perfect chocolate orange madeleine recipe
One critical moment with cupcakes can make or break their success, literally. Thanks to the ridges on the back of their shell shape, cupcakes tend to cling stubbornly to the baking sheet, much more so than regular sponge cakes. Here are three tips to help you:
- Use a non-stick Madeleine pan. Make sure the inside is not scratched or damaged.
- Use melted butter and sprinkle flour in the pan. The mould. Remove the Madeleines from the pan pretty much as soon as they’re out of the oven. Any hanging around is just going to let them settle in to their little homes even more. But don’t burn yourself – use a towel.
- I loosened the edges of the Madeleines from the pan with a fork before I tipped them out onto a cooling rack. I know that removing them straight away goes against everything you’ve ever been taught as a baker, but it’s fundamental to the end result being perfectly formed shells, rather than pieces of cake you’ve hacked out of a pan.
Secret to Perfect for Chocolate orange madeleine
The only weird process about making French Madeleines is the cooling of the batter. Not immediately baking cake batter is usually frowned upon by us bakers, as it can mess with the structure of the cake, and you can lose any precious air bubbles you’ve got in there.
It’s Chilling Time
How to cool the chocolate-orange muffins
With Madeleines, the chilling of the batter actually helps the little cuties to rise up in the oven, and is the key to getting the hump on the back that all good Madeleines strive for. It’s all to do with the batter being thicker once chilled. Don’t chill for more than an hour, though, as you don’t want the melted butter to completely solidify. Half an hour is usually perfect.
I also chilled my Madeleine pan alongside the batter, as this has been shown to help with the rising too. Don’t ask me why. Make sure you brush with melted butter and then sprinkle with flour after you’ve chilled your pan, though, otherwise the butter will harden in the bottom of the shells.
Chocolate orange madeleine recipe
Equipment
- 1 Small saucepan
- 1 Large bowl
- 1 Cupcake baking tray
- 1 Spoon
- 1 Toothpick
Ingredients
Chocolate orange madeleine recipe
- 100 g Unsalted butter plus extra for greasing
- 2 units Large eggs
- 100 g Caster sugar
- 100 g Plain or all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
- 2 tbsp Orange juice
- 2 units Oranges, zested
- 2 tbsp Baking powder
- 1/8 tbsp salt
- 150 g Orange flavoured dark (bittersweet) chocolate
Instructions
- Fort Chocolate orange madeleine recipe
- Zap the butter in the microwave or heat it up in a little pot, then give it a moment to chill out—no need to hurry!
- Grab a big bowl, beat the eggs and sugar like you're in a race until they're nice and frothy. Slowly toss in the flour, orange juice, zest, baking powder, salt, and melted butter, giving it a gentle whisk until it all plays nice together.
- Pop the Madeleine batter and tray in the fridge for 30 minutes—this little cool-down session helps those iconic bumps form on the backs!
- Preheat your oven to 200°C When you're ready to bake, take the Madeleine tray out of the fridge, brush it generously with melted butter, and dust it lightly with plain flour to ensure nothing sticks.
- Grab the batter from the fridge and dollop it into the Madeleine tray, filling each shell just shy of overflowing. No need to worry about it oozing everywhere; it’s more of a riser than a spreader. Pop it in the oven for 9–11 minutes, until the Madeleines are golden, bouncy like a trampoline, and pass the toothpick test with flying colours!
- The moment they’re out of the oven, grab a fork and gently nudge those Madeleines free from their cosy tray. Pop them onto a wire rack to cool off completely—lingering in the tray is a one-way ticket to Sackville!
- When the muffins have cooled, it's time to dip them! Chop the chocolate and place it in a microwave-safe bowl. Do this in 20-second bursts, stirring like a pro, until silky smooth. Pour the melted chocolate into a mug or tall bowl and dip the muffins in to give them a chocolatey touch. Leave to set on a lined tray.
