COMMERCY MADELEINES

MADELEINES DE COMMERCY

ladeleines are believed to have been invented in the town of

Commercy, in Lorraine. They first became fashionable around 1730 in Versailles and Paris,
thanks to Stanislaus Leszczynski, the deposed king of Poland, father-in-law of King Louis XV
of France, and (after 1735) duke of Lorraine. The duke's court at Lunevi/le saw the introduction of a dazzling succession of innovations in the art of pastry, including meringues and
rum babas.
Alexandre Dumas, in his Grand dictionnaire de cuisine, fe//s the story of a friend who,
on a journey to Strasbourg, arrived late at night in a small village. Exhausted and famished,
he found only one building that still had a light burning, and when he knocked at the door
he was greeted by the local baker. The baker "took out a little basket in which were about a
dozen beautiful, golden oval cakes, " and watched in delight as Dumas's friend devoured
them all. The traveler then asked, " 'What do you call these succulent little cakes?'
" 'What, you don't know the madeleines of Commercy?'
" 'Am I then in Commercy?'
" 'Yes, and you may be sure that you have just eaten the best cakes in the world.' "
By the end of the nineteenth century, madeleines were popular throughout France, and
many recipes for them had been developed. The version that became known as Commercy
Madeleines is made with browned butter, which gives these little tea cakes a beige crumb
and a slightly nutty flavor. For our taste, these are, if anything, even more delectable than
our "ordinary" (but already quite extraordinary) Madeleines (page 218).
EQUIPMENT
2 madeleine plaques stamped with 12 shell-shaped
depressions, each 3 inches (8 cm) long
A #40 ice cream scoop, a tablespoon,
or a large pastry bag fitted with
a 9/is-inch (14 mm) plain pastry tube (Ateco #7)

BATTER
6 ounces (170 g), or Vi cup plus 4 tablespoons,
unsalted butter
42/3 ounces (130 g), or % cup plus 3 tablespoons,
all-purpose flour
4V2 ounces (125 g), or Vi cup plus 2 tablespoons,
superfine sugar
3 extra-large eggs, separated, at room temperature
Vs teaspoon (V2 ml) lemon extract

For 24 cookies

1. Melt the butter in a 1-quart (1 L) saucepan, and boil it. Foam will
come to the top. When it collapses, stir to mix. Continue to boil. Soon
bubbles will start to form on the surface, at first large bubbles and then
progressively smaller ones. When the surface is covered with an opaque
foam of tiny bubbles and the foam mounts in the saucepan, stir to deflate
it. Boil the butter until a new layer of tiny bubbles forms on top, then stir
to deflate it again. Pour through a fine strainer into a bowl. This is beurre
noisette, or browned butter.
2. Stir 1 tablespoon (I1/? cl) of the browned butter with 2 teaspoons

220

T H E F R E N C H C O O K I E BOOK

T
(5 g) of the flour, and brush the madeleine plaques (D with it. Let the
remaining browned butter cool, but do not let it thicken and begin to solidify.
Preheat the oven to 475 F (245 C).
3. Sift the flour. Combine the sugar with 1 egg white in your electric
mixer and beat at medium speed with the flat beater. Add the remaining
whites one by one, followed by the yolks, one by one, as soon as the previous white or yolk is incorporated. Then mix in the lemon extract. Do not
overbeat. Turn the mixer down to low and gradually add the flour. When
mixed, gradually add the browned butter. Transfer the batter to a small
bowl and let it rest in a cool place for 30 to 60 minutes.
4. Spoon 5 teaspoons (21/2 cl) of batter into each shell @ using the
ice cream scoop or tablespoon. Or scoop the batter into the pastry bag,
and pipe the batter into the shells. (If you have only 1 plaque, keep the
remaining batter in the bowl until the first baking is completed.)
5. Bake on the bottom oven rack until the Madeleines are golden on
top and lightly browned around the edges, about 8 to 10 minutes. Then
unmold them onto a wire rack, turn them hump side up, and let cool to
room temperature.
>*

HOWS & WHYS: In order for the Commercy Madeleines to have the

hump on the back, the eggs must be beaten as little as possible. The batter
will be fairly thin, but will thicken a bit as it rests and the butter in it cools.
If you beat the batter too much, the batter will have more volume and be
thicker, but it will not rise properly in the oven and the Madeleines will have
no humps.
We advise against black steel madeleine plaques because they make
the Madeleines brown excessively.
STORAGE: Commercy Madeleines are wonderful fresh from the
oven, but they are noticeably less good even a couple of hours later. Don't
even think about trying to keep them overnight.

SPONGE CAKE BATTERS

221